In some states, it is possible to expunge the records of certain felony convictions under certain circumstances. Your sister may wish to investigate those possibilities prior to accepting a plea bargain.
In Canada, IIRC, an employer can ask if you have a criminal record - but not just arrests. If you have kept your nose clean for 5 years after your sentence is finished (for most crimes) you can apply for a pardon and now truthfully answer you do not have a criminal record.
The previous prime minister (Harper) had a hard-on for punishing criminals, and along with tough minimum sentence laws and strident warnings about the evils of letting the liberals take power and legalize pot, he also instituted much more difficult provisions for getting pardons. The liberals have indicated that they consider this to be simply vindictive punishment, rather than serving any logical purpose, and may reverse some of these measures. But then, we’re a country that allows prison inmates to vote.
Most jobs don’t care too greatly about felony convictions, because with pardons, anything other than fairly recent convictions are not discoverable.
There is apparently a sex offender registry of some sort, and people who apply for jobs working with kids (including volunteer positions like Scout Master?) need to get the appropriate clearance including criminal background check. Apparently last I saw on the news, this process is horribly backlogged as all requests have to be processed by a group in Ottawa by hand.
I think lot of this comes down to the employer more than any thing else.
Some Jobs like the FBI, CIA, NSA, police, fire, EMS, doctor, judges, surgeon, military or person running for politics for state or federal level is big no.
A felony or even small misdemeanor criminal charge like a say drugs and theft charge so on is big no with these jobs.
She might want to try San Francisco. Although felons are not guaranteed jobs, there are strict hiring rules and all employers with more than 20 employees are required to state in their ads “Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.”
In the state of Oregon, a convicted felon is still eligible for a contractor’s license if the conviction happened more than 5 years ago, and eligible for a locksmith certificate if the conviction happened more than 7 years ago. If it’s been less than the specified time limit, you can still request a hearing and maybe they’d allow you a license anyway. BTW, this only applies to a specific list of felonies like rape, murder, arson, etc. If your felony isn’t on the list, you’re in the clear.
As to whether an employer would actually hire you, that’s another question. But self employment is certainly an option.
Just don’t try Baskin Robbins. Apparently they always find out.