Effects Of a DUI Case on Your Job/Career: What to Know
Getting a DUI can affect your employment status in many ways. DUI case effects vary from person-to-person. Criminal defense attorneys should be knowledgeable about some of the most significant job considerations. Here are a few:
1. Perform Background Checks:
An employer is likely to perform background checks on potential employees before hiring them. If you have been charged with a DUI, once you get fingerprinted for your case, the DUI charge will appear on your record as an open/pending case.
Then the issue is how the employer will treat the fact that you have an open DUI charge. Most employers will not discharge a person from their employment simply due to having an open DUI charge. However, under current Pennsylvania laws pertaining to employment, an employer can dismiss an employee for incurring a charge, even if the person is never convicted.
Equally important is whether the employer will dismiss the person if the person is convicted. Many people also ask me whether they are at risk of losing their employment if they get ARD. The easy answer is that it is entirely up to the employer to decide the importance of getting charged with a DUI and whether the outcome of the case matters.
2. DUI Risk Related To The Type of Job:
There are some types of jobs where getting even a simple, first-offense DUI with no complications or extra charges will carry a big risk. For example, DUI case effects can be very harsh on nurses and truck drivers.
- For Nurses:
When a nurse (whether LPN, RN, or nurse practitioner) calls me with a DUI case, I have to immediately deliver the disappointing news to the person that they are in a long battle. Even if the DUI case is resolved relatively easily, their nursing license will be in jeopardy. This is true even if the nurse incurred the DUI while not on duty, driving his/her private vehicle, and the DUI is only based on alcohol and no drugs.
I typically handle the DUI case itself and then, at the same time, have the client consult with an attorney in Philadelphia that I have lined up to handle employment issues for nurses because he specializes in dealing with the nursing licensing board in Pennsylvania.
- For Truck Drivers:
As another example, truck drivers are at much greater risk when they get a DUI. This is true even if the truck drivers with no prior criminal history and a very simple DUI case with no accident and not involving any drugs. Truck drivers with CDLs will typically be suspended for a year (on their CDL but not regular driver’s license), even if they are admitted into the ARD program. This is due to strict regulations from the federal Dept of Transportation governing CDL truck drivers.
- For Government Employers:
Government employers vary. Generally, I have found that school districts are forgiving, even of teachers, especially if the teacher obtains ARD. There are strategies involved in determining what a school district as an employer will do so if you get a DUI and you work for a school district, call me.
Government employment (city, township, county, state, federal) also varies. My clients who work for the Pennsylvania Dept of Transportation are generally required to have a CDL because they drive specialized trucks periodically (e.g. snow removal, paving, etc).
A DUI will likely cause a suspension of a CDL for a year, and can therefore cause complications. On the other hand, employees who work in government offices are much less at risk. Most government offices have employee handbooks that spell out what types of conduct or criminal offenses make the employee dischargeable.
3. Criminal Background Check:
A big consideration when trying to predict what an employer will do is understanding which criminal records employers are pulling from. Both the Pennsylvania State Police and the FBI maintain criminal records. But rules regarding expungement and what can or will be removed from criminal records differ.
If your employer is any military entity, the criminal background check will be done by the FBI. It is the same for nurses. However, generally, people who work for other entities like stores or warehouses have criminal checks done by the state police. So this topic is long and complicated and requires careful analysis by the attorney.
4. How Long Does DUI Stay on My Record?
Another question that many people ask me is how long a DUI charge will stay on their record. The easy answer is that if they get into the ARD program and successfully complete it, along with paying all costs and fines, the DUI will then be dismissed and can then be expunged.
In Lehigh County, the Clerk’s office will commence the expungement process automatically, without the DUI defendant having to file a petition with the court. However, if you are convicted (by pleading guilty to any form of DUI or being found guilty by a judge or jury), the DUI can never be removed from your record.
It does not expire after a certain number of years (though there is a related concept involving whether you get another DUI and whether it is treated sequentially for purposes of mandatory minimum sentences. This is a separate concept and requires a much longer conversation.) If you get a DUI charge and are wondering about these issues and the other DUI case effects, contact me.
5. DUI Expungement:
There are also lots of issues surrounding expungement. If you get a DUI in Pennsylvania and manage to get into the ARD program and it is then later expunged, this does not mean that is expunged from the eyes of law enforcement. Police will have access and know that you had a prior DUI charge. However, what your employer can find is different and that also requires a much longer conversation related to what expungement actually means.
Do You Need to Reveal Your DUI Incident to an Employer?
Generally, you would be asked by an employer on an application whether you have ever been convicted of a crime. A DUI is a crime. However, if you got ARD, then you were never convicted and your answer would then be no (unless there was something else you were convicted of).
A DUI is usually a misdemeanor if a first or 2nd offense, but now, under Pennsylvania law, 3rd offense DUIs are a felony. You can get some more information on how can a DUI be a felony in PA.
So if you are asked by an employer if you have been convicted of a crime, and you had a DUI and did not get ARD and you pleaded guilty or were found guilty, then your answer would be yes to that question. If the question was whether you were convicted of a felony, you would only be answering yes if you were recently convicted of a DUI as a 3rd offense.
Moreover, even if you lie (or take a chance and answer no because you’re not sure what the outcome of the case was), an employer can not take any action other than dismissing you from the job, or not hiring you. The employer can not get you in further trouble with the police for deception issues related to what you tell your employer.
One major exception to that—but which is not actually for employment—is when you apply for a permit to carry a firearm in Pennsylvania. The application for the permit is very broadly worded, and if you had a DUI of any kind, you should answer it as truthfully and accurately as you can.
If you had ARD and were not convicted, simply state that. That type of DUI, by itself, should not prevent you from obtaining a permit to carry. However, lying on an application for a permit to carry is a felony itself.
IF YOU GET A DUI AND HAVE CONCERNS ABOUT YOUR JOB, CALL ATTORNEY KATHRYN ROBERTS AT (484) 695-7023.
About the Author kathryn Roberts
