Did you know that a DUI conviction may be affixed to your criminal record? This can be serious, especially if you are in a position to apply for jobs at present or currently hold a commercial driver's license. Naturally, companies do not want to hire commercial drivers with DUIs and reckless driving convictions on their records. You may even be stripped of your commercial driver's license if the authorities determine that you have too many convictions of this kind or are a high-danger driver.
In any job, employers have the right to conduct spontaneous background checks. Even if you have been at a company for some time, your employers can conduct a background check to ensure that you are an upstanding citizen and haven't gotten into any trouble recently. If you are applying for jobs, employers will almost always run a background check to make sure that they are not hiring a dangerous individual or someone that will be irresponsible.
Depending on what type of background check is conducted, employers may be able to access your DUI history. Some background checks will even show DUI charges, regardless of whether or not they resulted in a conviction. The limits of an employer's ability to conduct these checks should be considered if you are applying for a job. In some cases and for some companies, a DUI conviction will be a serious factor in the hiring and firing process. In other jobs, a DUI may make no difference. State laws govern how employers can use a DUI to influence hiring and firing decisions.
There are federal restrictions on background checks listed in the Fair Credit Reporting Act. These restrictions prohibit the government from listing a criminal arrest on a person's record after a period of seven years. However, criminal convictions such as DUIs can stay on a person's record indefinitely. This is why it is essential that you hire a DUI lawyer to represent you in your case. If you start early enough, you may even get the charges dropped, which will help you to reduce the possibility of having a charge on your record. A dedicated attorney may also help you to avoid conviction, which means that your record will be free of any of these listings that could affect you in the workplace.
The Federal Credit Reporting Act rules that reporting restrictions about convictions only apply to jobs with a yearly salary of $75,000 or less. Those with greater salaries can often be pickier with their applicants and may reject those with a DUI on their record. Still, federal courts often rule that employers cannot bar employment of individuals with convictions unless they can prove that they have a reason to do so.
For example, a company may not hire a truck driver with multiple DUI convictions on this record because it would jeopardize the safety of the vehicle and the driver himself out on the road. Yet if a person applies for a secretary position and has a DUII on her record, the company may not have the grounds to rule her out of the applicant pool based solely on her criminal record.
DUIs can happen to anyone, from unemployed teens to high-up executives and celebrities. Therefore, companies should not be too harsh on those that have been convicted of a DUI in the past. There are about 20 different types of information that can be included in an official background check. These can include driving records, vehicle registration, court records, character references, incarceration records, neighbor interviews, or criminal records. Some of this information can be placed on a pre-employment questionnaire or may be on the job application itself.
Most job applications only ask whether or not an applicant has committed a felony, but does not ask about misdemeanor charges. If you have been charged with a felony DUI, it is best to be honest on the application and explain the situation, rather than lie and have the employers find out about it later. If you have been charged with a DUI, then you need a tenacious DUI attorney to help you fight that charge so that it will not show up on your driving record. Hire a local DUI attorney to help you today!