Pizza delivery is considered one of the most flexible jobs in the food industry. Most consumers want their food on weekends and late at night, and so this is where most of the hours are. These jobs also require little education or training, making it ideal for felons that have served long prison sentences. With hard work and dedication, many felons become managers at pizza places. However, is Pizza Hut like the rest? Does Pizza Hut hire felons?

The short answer: Yes Pizza Hut does hire felons but only when they are having a staffing shortage. Most Pizza Hut’s are a franchise and individually owned which gives felons a decent chance of being hired at certain Pizza Hut Locations during the previously mentioned staffing shortages.

Applying to Pizza Hut with a Felony

Pizza Hut receives thousands of applications every day; they only choose the best of the best. While there is not a company statement on hiring felons, most previous workers say they try not to. If they can choose anybody, why would they choose someone with a record? The only time they seem to hire felons are when an individual franchise is having a serious staffing shortage.

If this is happening, you need to act fast. You need to meet with there local Pizza Hut manager and explain your unique situation. Apply for an entry-level position like a driver, cook or cashier.  It may be a good idea to bring several references with you. If you get the job, he will need to work harder than most to keep it. After a while, trust can be gained and you can begin to work your way up the ladder into more managerial positions. However, the chances of this happening are rare from the research we have done.

How to Apply

To work for Pizza Hut, applications can be found on Pizza Hut’s career site. From there, you need to put what position and location want want to work at. The site will send them to the actual application. If at any point there is confusion, each location offers assistance in filling these out. Although it is easy to fill out, it is not so easy to get hired with a felony record but it is still possible.

If you are seeking a job at the Pizza Hut corporate office look here for jobs (Plano, TX).

Background Check Limits and Pizza Hut

It is important to understand that some states have laws regarding how far back a criminal background check can go. This can greatly effect whether Pizza Hut will hire you or not. Here are the laws in each state.

Twelve states do not allow any felony conviction information older than seven years to be reported.

• California
• Colorado*
• Kansas*
• Maryland*
• Massachusetts
• Montana
• Nevada
• New Hampshire*
• New York *
• Texas *
• Washington*

(* exceptions based on pay/salary)

Some states will not report court cases where you were found NOT guilty: Hawaii, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Alaska, California, New York and Michigan.

These states will report unlimited numbers of years back of felony convictions and also report NOT guilty verdicts: Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, DC, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

Pizza Huts History

Pizza Hut was started in 1958 by the Carney brothers. In their town of Wichita, Kansas, Pizzerias were rare, so the idea proved lucrative. In just one year they already had opened another franchise. Before the 1970’s they had opened 149! However, with the success came trouble. The company attempted to consolidate many of the franchises to save money. This proved a difficult process, because each franchise used a different accounting system. It took the company 8 months of planning and deflating sales to complete the process.

To overcome this setback, they began a whole different marketing strategy. Pizza Hut began to invest in companies, open internationally, and create new menu items. The investments allowed them to not only overcome their deficits, but thrive. Eventually, this turnaround grabbed the attention of Pepsi-Co, and the two merged in 1980. Pepsi-Co also owns other fast food restaurants like KFC and Taco Bell. They continued to fuse ideas from these places as they grew. Pizza Hut now has drive-thrus, and they offer healthy alternative for those who want something a little different. Today, Pizza Hut is the number one growing pizza company in the world.

Should Felons Apply to Pizza Hut?

Pizza Hut has come a long way from their one-store days in Kansas. They have overcome financial trouble, continued innovating, and even merged with one of the largest food distributors in the world (PepsiCo). Because of this growth, they receive more job applications than they could ever look through. This leads to most getting thrown away, especially those with a criminal record.

Although a staffing shortage could happen, it is not very often. If a you need a job and have a felony record its worth a shot to apply if they are short handed but don’t be disappointed if you don’t here back from them. There are other more felon friendly fast food restaurants out there that are more likely to hire you like Wendy’s, Subway and Taco Bell.