If you are facing a first-time DUI in Florida, you probably have lots of questions. For instance, will a misdemeanor DUI affect employment, and how can you protect yourself if it will?
Drunk driving is a serious concern with employers. If your profession involves driving, your employer may become concerned that you will be drunk on the job. Even if it doesn’t, your professional relationships may suffer due to trust issues, affecting your ability to get new jobs or grow in your career.
Technically, there is nothing in DUI penalties that directly affects employment. However, that doesn’t reflect the reality of the situation, as a DUI conviction can potentially impact whether you get hired or promoted.
Additionally, some employers will terminate you if you are convicted of a DUI, especially if you receive a jail sentence. Even if there isn’t an immediate impact, your employer’s concerns about liability or your trustworthiness could have a long-term impact.
If you work in certain professions, such as legal or medical, for example, you must notify your employer after you are convicted of a DUI. You should be aware of this if you work in a profession that requires a clean driving record or a security clearance. When notification is mandatory, you are almost certain to get terminated immediately after a conviction.
Even if notification isn’t mandatory, your employer might find out. It is difficult to hide a conviction if you are sentenced to jail or lose your driver’s license. Your employer could also find out through rumors or may be otherwise notified by a third party.
In Florida, a DUI will stay on your record for the rest of your life. This means that it can affect your employment forever. Any potential employer can look at your criminal record before hiring.
At best, you must explain it and convince them it won’t happen again. Similarly, your current employer knows the DUI occurred, even if you can remove it from your record.
All criminal convictions appear on background checks, regardless of whether they are misdemeanors or felonies. The company that provides the background check will reveal the nature and severity of the risk.
Whether a misdemeanor is used against you depends on the employer. Some will refuse to hire anyone with a criminal conviction. Others will only refuse to hire people with felonies. At a minimum, though, you should expect to explain any convictions to a potential employer to convince them that it won’t impact your future work.
Florida laws allow employers to consider criminal history when hiring someone. Since DUIs are criminal offenses, a potential employer can consider the conviction when hiring you. Conversely, private employers are explicitly prevented from asking about criminal history when hiring in a state like New Jersey.
If you work in specific jobs, like nursing or professional driving, you will be fired if you are convicted of a DUI. These jobs prohibit people from working in them if they have been convicted of certain criminal offenses.
However, you might still be fired if you don’t work in one of these professions. Florida is an at-will employment state. This means your employer can fire you for almost any reason or no reason at all. While federal laws protect you from being fired for discriminatory purposes, people with criminal records are not part of a protected class.
As soon as you are arrested for a DUI, you should seek legal advice to minimize the impact of the arrest and possible conviction. The right plea deal, for example, could prevent you from being convicted of a DUI. Even if you are convicted, you can protect yourself in other ways. Knowing your rights is crucial, and our guide for what to do when you are arrested can help you understand your next steps.
A DUI cannot be expunged in Florida. It will stay on your record forever. However, a “wet reckless” charge, a reduced charge from DUI, can be expunged from your record.
Unfortunately, the expungement process in Florida requires never having been convicted of a crime. Effectively, this means you can only expunge charges if you were acquitted or had the charges dismissed.
Honesty is often your best bet for preventing a DUI conviction from harming your career. Reveal the conviction before current or future employers discover it and explain the circumstances. You should also provide them with evidence that you have taken appropriate steps to ensure it never happens again.
After a first-offense DUI, your license will be suspended for at least six months and potentially up to a year. If your BAC was over 0.15, you must use an ignition interlock device during your first six months of reinstatement. However, there are some ways to save your license after a DUI arrest.
There are insurance penalties for a DUI as well. Your insurance rates will skyrocket, and some companies will refuse to insure you. Similarly, if your work involves driving, your employer will face increased insurance rates that they may pass along to you.
You are most likely to have your career affected if you work in transportation, healthcare, education, or for the government. Most transportation companies will not hire someone with a DUI. Similarly, alcohol-related offenses often result in immediate dismissal for medical professionals, teachers, and government workers.
Employers often have serious concerns when a potential employee has a DUI conviction. Many view it as a possible sign of alcoholism, which usually impacts job performance. It also represents poor decision-making skills, even in those who aren’t alcoholics. These are liability risks that most employers don’t want to deal with.
When interviewing with a criminal record, you should address these concerns. It is best to show that a DUI was a one-time event long ago and that you took action to prevent it from happening again.
Company policies are different for every employer. Many companies will give leeway to first-time offenders, and some employers may even provide assistance resources after a DUI. However, repeat offenders often receive little to no tolerance and are likely to be immediately fired or dismissed when applying for a job.
If you want to protect your rights after being charged with a DUI, you should contact a criminal defense lawyer as soon as possible. An experienced attorney can help you explore your legal options for minimizing the effects of a DUI conviction. Alternatively, they may be able to prevent the sentence altogether.
They will also guide you through the DUI process from start to finish. This will make it go more smoothly and improve the final results. Have you been charged with a DUI in Florida? If so, contact The Denson Firm as soon as possible to schedule a consultation with an experienced DUI defense lawyer.
Do you work in the transportation or medical industry? If so, your profession is likely one that requires the courts to notify your employer that you were convicted of a DUI. However, there are many other professions where such notification is not mandatory.
If your position requires a clean driving record or background check, you should inform your employer, even if the courts don’t. By continuing to work after you have a disqualifying DUI, you could potentially be violating your contract with your employer or even the law. The odds are good, but they will find out eventually, anyway.
A DUI conviction will never leave your record in Florida. The only offenses that can be removed from a criminal record in Florida are those where you are acquitted or they are dismissed. Other criminal activity stays on your record permanently.
This means that a misdemeanor can affect your employment decades after it happens. However, unless you are applying for a job that involves security clearances or has strict limits on who can work in it, most employers will ignore minor offenses that are decades old, especially if they aren’t relevant to the work you are applying for.
A DUI can impact every step of your employment. Your employer might consider your DUI conviction when determining who to promote or terminate. At a minimum, it reveals information about your character and decision-making skills.
Industry often matters in these decisions. For example, in the legal field, you would be unlikely to make partner at a firm without a clean criminal record. Conversely, in the retail sector, a promotion to management is less likely to be affected by a DUI. A conviction for theft would hurt you much more, even if it were a lesser charge.
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