Submitting a Walmart application should feel like the first step toward steady employment, not the beginning of a bureaucratic scavenger hunt where the clues are vague emails and the prize is… more waiting.
With thousands of Walmart jobs available nationwide and constant talk of Walmart hiring, you might think the Walmart application process would be smoother – but here we are.
Whether you’re applying through Walmart hiring, exploring long-term Walmart careers, or simply trying to get your foot in the door, the background check portion of the Walmart application is often where things go sideways.
This article explains what really happens behind the scenes, how to protect yourself from background check errors, and when background check lawyers may be necessary to step in and help. Or, check out our background check errors practice page for a deeper dive.
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How Long Does It Take Walmart to Review Your Application?
After submitting a Walmart application, most candidates expect a quick response – especially given Walmart’s size and constant need for employees.
In reality, reviewing a Walmart application can take anywhere from three days to two weeks, depending on location, role, and internal hiring demand. Entry-level Walmart jobs may move faster, while management or specialized Walmart careers often require additional review layers.
The biggest delay usually comes from the background check phase. Once your Walmart application reaches that step, third-party screening companies enter the picture. These companies do not work at Walmart’s pace, nor do they always get things right.
Background check errors can slow or completely halt a Walmart application without warning, including things like:
- false criminal history
- misrepresented or inaccurate criminal history
- outdated records
- incomplete verifications
- duplicate records
Unfortunately, applicants are rarely told what’s happening unless they know what to look for.
How to Check Walmart Application Status
If you’ve submitted a Walmart application and are wondering whether it disappeared into the digital void, there is a way to check – though Walmart doesn’t exactly shout it from the rooftops.
Application status updates are handled online through Walmart’s official career system, and this is the primary source of truth for Walmart hiring decisions.
Typically, to monitor your Walmart application, applicants should:
- Log into the Walmart Hiring Center
- Access the profile used to submit the Walmart application
- Review whether the Walmart application is listed as under review, pending background check, or closed
If your Walmart application sits unchanged for weeks, it may signal an unresolved background check issue. At that point, seeking help with a Walmart application can mean the difference between waiting indefinitely and taking control of the situation.
Walmart Background Check Requirements
Every Walmart application that progresses far enough will trigger a background check. This is a standard part of Walmart hiring, not a sign that you’ve done anything wrong, despite how ominous it can feel when the email arrives.
Walmart uses these background checks to confirm that applicants are who they say they are and that nothing in their history legally disqualifies them from Walmart jobs.
On paper, this sounds simple and reasonable. In practice, it’s one of the most error-prone steps in the entire Walmart application process.
What Walmart Is Looking For
A background check connected to a Walmart application typically reviews identity information, criminal history, and sometimes prior employment.
The problem is that these background checks rely heavily on massive, automated databases that pull information from multiple sources. These databases are often outdated, incomplete, or just plain wrong.
Where Things Go Wrong
Expunged cases that should be invisible, sealed records that somehow reappear, or data belonging to someone with a similar name can end up attached to the wrong Walmart application.
When these background check mistakes occur, qualified applicants can be screened out without ever understanding why. This is exactly how people lose access to Walmart careers they were otherwise eligible for.
What many applicants don’t realize is that Walmart must follow strict legal rules when using background check data. Ignoring those rules doesn’t just hurt applicants, it creates legal liability, especially when inaccurate information is allowed to derail a Walmart application without proper notice or review.
Notice of Adverse Action with Walmart Application
If Walmart intends to deny your Walmart application because of something found in a background check, it cannot simply hit the reject button and move on.
Federal law, specifically the Fair Credit Reporting Act requires Walmart to follow a very specific process. Think of it less like a courtesy and more like a legal speed bump Walmart must slow down for, whether it wants to or not.
Before the decision becomes final, Walmart must send what’s called a pre-adverse action notice. This is essentially a heads-up that says, “We might deny your Walmart application, and here’s why.”
The adverse action notice must include a copy of the background check report and a summary of your rights. The purpose is simple: it gives applicants time to review the information and dispute any errors before Walmart makes a final decision. No ambushes allowed.
Unfortunately, many applicants never see this notice. Instead, they receive a vague rejection email – no report, no explanation, and no opportunity to correct background check errors. In some cases, they receive only a final adverse action notice denying them employment, and nothing more.
Failing to give proper notice isn’t just irritating. When Walmart skips required notices or rushes the process, the Walmart application rejection may violate federal law.
Applicants who never received proper notice, or who were denied Walmart jobs based on inaccurate data, should strongly consider speaking with background check lawyers who know how these violations happen, and how to hold companies accountable when they do.
How to Challenge a Walmart Application Rejection
Challenging a Walmart application rejection can feel intimidating, especially when the rejection arrives in a short, emotionless email that offers zero context and even less sympathy. But when background check errors are involved, challenging the decision isn’t just reasonable – it’s often necessary.
Applicants have legal rights, and these rights don’t magically disappear just because a massive corporation is involved or because an algorithm made the call instead of a human.
If your Walmart application was rejected, take the following promptly because timing matters more than most people realize:
- Request a copy of the background check report used in the Walmart application decision
- Carefully review the report for background check errors or outdated information
- File a formal dispute with the reporting company – preferably by certified mail. This serves as proof of your efforts and that they were put on notice of the dispute.
- Keep records of all communication related to your Walmart application
- Contact background check lawyers if the issue is not corrected promptly
Certified mail is especially important because it creates a paper trail. If things escalate, and they often do, this proof of delivery can be critical to making your case.
While a Walmart application denial may be final, many people have salvaged their Walmart careers after clearing background check errors.
Why Background Check Errors Are So Common
Background check errors are not rare anomalies or unlucky flukes – they are systemic problems baked into an industry that values speed, automation, and volume over accuracy. The background screening industry moves fast, asks questions later, and too often shrugs when real people are harmed in the process.
This is why background check mistakes show up so frequently in employment decisions tied to a Walmart application, even when applicants are fully qualified and legally eligible to work.
Common reasons these errors occur include:
- Databases that are not regularly updated, meaning old arrests that were dismissed years ago still appear as if they happened yesterday
- Records being matched to the wrong individual with a similar name, such as another “Kim S.” who lives two states away but somehow ends up haunting the wrong Walmart application
- Expunged or sealed cases remaining visible, despite the law saying those records should be treated like they never existed
- Employers failing to allow disputes before rejecting a Walmart application, cutting applicants out of the process entirely
- Overreliance on automated decision-making, where algorithms flag issues without any human stopping to ask, “Is this actually correct?”
- Incomplete or misreported employment or identity data, such as missing Social Security digits or mismatched birthdates
When these problems affect Walmart hiring, applicants often feel powerless and assume the system is unbeatable. In truth, these errors create serious legal exposure for both the background check company and the employer, especially when people are denied Walmart jobs without proper notice or a fair chance to correct the record.
Why Legal Help Is Important
When a Walmart application is denied because of a background check, many applicants assume the problem is theirs – or worse, that there’s nothing they can do. This assumption is exactly why legal help matters.
Employment background check laws exist to provide meaningful protections to the average job seeker, but most people don’t even know they exist. And knowing when Walmart crosses a legal line requires experience, not guesswork.
Legal help is critical because it:
- Identifies whether Walmart followed the Fair Credit Reporting Act during the Walmart application process
- Determines if background check errors legally qualify as violations
- Forces screening companies and employers to respond instead of stall
- Shifts the burden off the applicant and onto the background check companies responsible
With legal representation, you don’t have to have just another rejected Walmart application. You can be one of the many consumers who enforces their rights.
Get Justice! Fight for fixes & money!
If your Walmart application was denied due to background check errors, missing notices, or procedural shortcuts, you do not have to accept it quietly, or assume it was your fault.
At Consumer Justice Law Firm, we help people harmed during the Walmart application process by inaccurate reporting and unlawful hiring practices, and we’ve been doing it successfully for years.
If your Walmart application was impacted by an unfair denial, an inaccurate background check, or a violation of your consumer rights, reach out to the Consumer Justice Law Firm today.
You deserve a hiring process that is fair, accurate, and accountable – and we are committed to helping ensure that standard is met.
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