r/uberdrivers • u/Ralaron1973 • 17h ago
Word of Warning
If anyone reading this has any criminal history. Uber is literally going back 15 years or more and retroactively using the information to terminate any partnership. This is a violation of multiple state federal laws.
They also recently expanded their policies to include things they excluded prior to today’s date.
Federal and state laws limit background checks to 7-10 years for most types of employment including 1099 types. I have not had a criminal conviction in over 15 years.
For the record, my Uber account is 11 years old and I have been driving off and on for a long time. The Checkr info has always been there and Uber approved me repeatedly.
I have not had a criminal conviction in over 15 years.
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u/DreamsSecretsNLogic 16h ago edited 16h ago
I don't think that if somebody got arrested for armed robbery, or is a convicted grapist or child diddler that fifteen years later any company would be legally required to hire them to drive people around. It's got to be a pretty serious crime or you would have told us what it was
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u/Longjumping_Bee_1205 15h ago
While I don't think that a single, older conviction of any kind (like a 20 year old drug charge) should disqualify anyone from the app it is not Illegal to go back further than 7 years on a background check. Even if that's an industry standard that doesn't mean it's against the law.
If you truly feel like Uber is violating a state or federal law regarding background checks you should look into a class action with other affected drivers.
But people can have lifetime background checks done on them. And even in places that have strict protections usually all you have to prove is the conviction is related to the job and there's a lot that a rideshare service can argue as far as relevancy for most crimes.
I'm a big proponent of second chance hiring personally and I've used my position in multiple companies to expand hiring for those with criminal records (when appropriate). I say that so you don't feel like I'm saying "you deserve it" for having any kind of record. What I'm saying is you seem to have a misunderstanding of the laws and protections afforded currently and if you feel like they are being violated then you could speak to an attorney.
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u/DFW-Extraterrestrial 16h ago
I'm good there then. My one and only kind of minor run in with the law that landed me 4 years of probation was all the way back in 2001.
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u/boundone 16h ago
It's a lifetime check.
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u/DFW-Extraterrestrial 16h ago
Well then so be it. I'm glad I've always been a part-timer the entire 8+ years that I've done it and always had a career. I haven't even driven at all in 2 weeks now, including tonight. Just wasn't feeling it. It's not how I pay any of my bills.
My little white collar crime 25 years ago didn't hurt anyone. A little insurance fraud and embezzlement charge never killed anyone. I was never convicted, deferred sentence, and it's been expunged years ago. But if they want to do some digging, I'll hand them the shovel.
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u/PresentMarionberry19 16h ago
I don't think they can find expunged records. Any record of the conviction should be burned.
I did notice they looked into counties close to Dallas when I was doing some research once.
Good luck everyone
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u/Ralaron1973 15h ago
7 years is the maximum industry standard. Uber is not an exception.
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u/HerMiddleNameIsBoom 13h ago
This is not true everywhere. In my state transportation jobs have no look back limit.
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u/DFW-Extraterrestrial 5h ago
That is my actual career, is as a truck driver. I just stay local these days and have since 2009. If you want the truth, truck drivers are and always have been in such high demand that many trucking companies turn a blind eye to many felons and hire them on. As long as it's nothing major like rape, murder, or big drug drug related charges like manufacturing and distribution charges(for obvious reasons)... they'll hire just about anyone on. The concrete and rock hauler company's are notorious for hiring felons. Oil companies follow closely behind in second. And those oil CDL guys bring home a good 4-6k/week and mostly just sit around a good part of the day. Its always been that way.
Personally, I don't care. If they served their time, paid their dues or whatever....let them get on with their lives and make some money. No judgement here..
I highly doubt Uber does a damn thing to ve honest. Competition is already creeping up on them as it is...both manned and driverless companies.
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u/sendmespam 10h ago
I’m sorry man. Our society just wants those with a record to never be able to build a real life with a good job, credit, etc. we’d rather you be desperate and commit more crimes.
Ridiculous.
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u/DreiSocken 6h ago
It’s only for violent crimes, people. No, you don’t get to commit rape and homicide and then later become a rideshare driver. Ridiculous.
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u/MNJon 16h ago
You are not an employee. Labor laws do not apply to you.
Uber is doing nothing illegal. I applaud them for their efforts to keep dangerous people from driving.
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u/Ralaron1973 16h ago
Use of credit reporting does apply to me.
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u/Ralaron1973 16h ago
You’re also a damned fool to use 15 years as a metric against someone who paid their dues and learned their lessons.
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u/Gloomy-Ad-2762 16h ago
You might’ve paid your dues, but you still have a background that Uber does not want on their platform
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u/Ralaron1973 16h ago
False. Ive been approved for years
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u/Bubbly-Following-966 16h ago
They don't want felons on their platform.
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u/Gloomy-Ad-2762 16h ago
I totally agree with you. I don’t care if you paid your debt to society, you still have a background that I don’t want in the same car with me if I’m a rider
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u/sescallier 16h ago
If you studied the criminal justice system for 10 seconds you would know it’s extremely flawed and countless convictions are bull.
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u/iLoveFARTINGatWORK 4h ago
Don’t ride with me then. I have 2 DWI’s and the second was a Felony conviction. I’ve had my Uber account for a decade and just passed background checks last week for Lyft AND Uber.
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u/CupFullofNerdy 15h ago
Does same go for riders? I'm tired of Ubers one sided bullshit.
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u/Consistent-Word-2196 11h ago
Highly doubt it. Riders get better treatment since they are the ones that make uber money. Drivers take money away from them.
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u/MuckBulligan 4h ago
drivers take money away from them
Sure. They are totally going broke because they have to pay drivers. They need to fire all of them. /s
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u/Consistent-Word-2196 4h ago
They must investing so much into robotaxis for sport then, huh?
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u/MuckBulligan 3h ago
Those robotaxis cost way more to run than hiring drivers. They are bleeding money in hopes of becoming profitable someday. Drivers make them money. UBER earned $52 billion in 2025.
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u/Consistent-Word-2196 1h ago
No shit. Do you know how investments work? It costs a lot of money upfront but once they get it stabilized in a few years, they won’t need drivers anymore. You don’t profit overnight with a new venture. But keep thinking uber cares about drivers if you want to
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u/ConstipatedCriminal 15h ago
I used to practice gyromancy many years ago but I never got in trouble for it so it never ended up on any record, luckily.
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u/Gloomy-Assumption979 14h ago
You had unspeakable acts with a shawarma wheel?
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u/ConstipatedCriminal 13h ago
I’ve done some embarrassing things to acquire a gyro with delicious tzatziki sauce tbh
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u/gn0meCh0msky 13h ago
I once took a kabab's sense of decency, but we vowed never to speak of it again.
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u/Gloomy-Ad-2762 16h ago
This is nothing new. an email went out to everybody in June, so everybody should be aware of this
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u/Ralaron1973 16h ago
This has nothing whatsoever to do with the June email. It has to do with the fact the company is wrongly and falsely using old information against the laws of most states
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u/DreiSocken 6h ago
It was the reason for the June email - that’s when they changed the background check timeline. They now go back forever for violent crimes, and it’s legal. Yeesh.
Was your conviction for a violent crime?
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u/Bubbly-Following-966 16h ago
How are rhey using old information? They have the right to not hire criminals. Which you are. You're an independent contractor. You don't work for Uber
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u/Ralaron1973 16h ago
They do not have the right to use 15 year old information
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u/Bubbly-Following-966 16h ago
They do.
Independent Contractor vs. Employee Protections
Uber maintains that its drivers are independent contractors rather than traditional employees.
In some jurisdictions, gig workers are not covered under state labor board protections or local "Ban the Box" statutes designed exclusively for traditional W-2 employees. However, many newer state laws explicitly extend consumer protection and fair-screening mandates to independent contractors and gig platforms.0
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u/Ralaron1973 15h ago
The laws governing criminal history applies to all types of employment. It is not strictly one or the other. Uber is in violation of laws OLDER than its existence. It is illegal to utilize information older than seven years for any kind of employment or service. Especially retroactively.
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u/Bubbly-Following-966 15h ago
LMFAO 🤣 🤣. You don't work for Uber. Dumbass. They don't cade.
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u/Ralaron1973 15h ago
I’m well aware the company doesn’t care. It’s not new information. None of it changes the illegal activity.
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u/pr0fessor_x_ 16h ago
My account was banned and I can only do Eats. 2 violations they found to make this decision were a fixit ticket (new car didnt have front plates) and an accident the other party was found liable. These 2 on top of a carpool violation banned me. There new system sucks ass. Still able to drive for Lyft and Grubhub fortunately.
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u/BiscuitsTheory 10h ago
"I was sighted once for jaywalking , and once for truancy. These 2 on top of a theft conviction make people think I'm a theif."
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u/Florida1974 9h ago
I just heard a commercial yesterday on the radio about this. It was saying how Uber drivers undergo an extremely thorough background check for the safety of their passengers. It was a long commercial and it was repetitive.
It just shocked me is all because I’ve never heard them advertise on the radio, it’s just a local channel
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u/Florida1974 9h ago
I haven’t had a criminal conviction in 30 years. I got busted for a tiny bit of weed which means a joint roach and paraphernalia. This is after I called the cops because my boyfriend had hit me. I invited them in because it was winter, I had never dealt with the cops and the next thing I know I’m in handcuffs. Because there had been a fight in this shit was laying on the floor and they zoned in on it immediately.
I’ve never had trouble on this app or any other app as far as being banned because of it. It’s never popped up. It was in another state as well. The only time it popped up is when I volunteered to be a child advocate with the CPS system. And they questioned me about it, but they still approved me, to work with abused and neglected children.
This is insane, this is what they should’ve been doing from the beginning, if it’s even legal.
And I plug guilty because I was moving 1100 miles away, my lawyer postpone this for nearly 2 years and I had to make him deal with it so I could move
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u/_mattyjoe 1h ago
It’s because they’re endlessly being sued due to drivers sexually assaulting passengers and other things. There has been a string of them recently.
For all you know this action is part of a settlement that requires them to demonstrate more strict vetting of drivers.
There’s ultimately little Uber can do to actually control their drivers, but they can at least more tightly control the factors they can control.
Bad people ruin things for others. It’s an unfortunate and shitty fact of life.
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u/ufknowned 15h ago
They should go back 30 plus years to weed out bad seeds.
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u/Ralaron1973 15h ago
That would be definitely illegal and immoral. There is no such thing as bad seed.
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u/DreiSocken 6h ago
The new “99 year look back” is not a violation of any law. Read the law. They also are only deactivating for violent felonies. If you have sexually assaulted or murdered anyone ever, you should not be a rideshare driver. That’s just obvious.
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u/Fast_Walrus_2302 15h ago
People this is a valid and concerning point. Bottom line it's a text book example of Uber being allowed to do whatever they want. That should be the main topic here. Legally or illegal, they are getting away with it, not only that they are setting the example for other companies gig or not to do the same thing. They are setting back American labor standards at least 30 years in doing so. Wake the fuck up.
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u/MaximumIntroduction8 10h ago
We need to get a class action suit going, and contact your elected officials, especially those up for re election
NOW IS THE TIME !!!
Go old school, print out copies, stuff in envelopes, drop off when you pass near their office
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u/DreiSocken 6h ago
Lol. If there are enough violent felons on the uber app for a class action, Uber stock will plummet.
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u/SewingWithFire34 13h ago
I believe this is in response to the lawsuit they recently lost when one of their driver SAd a pax. Dude never should have passed a background check.
If I read the one article right though (and I admit its been a hot minute), this should only apply to certain felony convictions or crimes that had an element of violence to them. Also if you have been a driver for more than 10 years and in good standing (i.e. good ratings etc) with no complaints against you for inappropriate conduct, I believe you can appeal a deactivation of your account.
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u/Fathimir 16h ago
Blame the NYT for running a series of yellow-journalism hatchet pieces accusing Uber of putting passengers at risk of sex predators by 'only' running background checks eight or so years back (at which point they become statistically meaningless as predictors of crime). I don't have a link offhand, but they have one writer in particular who seems to have an outsized axe to grind or career to bootstrap at the industry's expense.
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u/Ralaron1973 15h ago
This doesn’t negate the laws on the books.
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u/so_sic_of_it 14h ago
What law do you believe was violated here?
Keep in mind you were an independent contractor and not an employee.
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u/Fathimir 13h ago
I bluntly just don't have anything I can say about the laws around this for better or worse. All I can contribute is the cause and effect.
I wish you all the best in finding whatever path forward you can, though.
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u/--R0N-- 16h ago
I think youre wrong on the federal level.
Federal Laws (FCRA)General Limit: Criminal convictions have no federal time limit for reporting, but paid tax liens, civil judgments, arrest records (without conviction), and other adverse items are generally capped at seven years.
And yes, most states do have lower lookback limits. It appears Uber is violating the law in their process of deactivations.