The State of California has laws protecting individuals that have been convicted of DUI from being fired or preventing them from getting hired for a new job. As per California Labor Code 432.7, a California employer is prohibited from asking questions about a DUI arrest if the individual was not convicted. The Fair Credit Reporting Act prohibits a company from conducting a background check on existing employees.
For new job applicants, the law does not prevent a company from investigating a job applicant, and DUI convictions can show up permanently on a background check regardless of when the offense occurred. In order to have your DUI case dismissed, you may be able to obtain a certificate of rehabilitation, and if successful you may file a motion to withdraw your plea or have the verdict set aside for employment purposes.
Losing Your Commercial Driver’s License
Because of the weight of the responsibility that professional drivers carry those operating under a Commercial Driver’s License are held to the highest standards. If you drive an ordinary passenger bus, a bus full of children, a gasoline tanker, an 80,000 lb. 18-wheeler, or any other type of bus or truck, your negligence due to driving while impaired could injure or kill hundreds of people. Your employer is well aware of the risks that operating a commercial vehicle entails and will usually have a zero tolerance policy. At the very least if you are charged or convicted you will be suspended or fired from your driving job and could find it difficult to find another. Applicants for a commercial driver’s license must disclose any DUI’s that occurred with the last ten years.
Being convicted of a DUI in California is a serious offense that carries multiple, life-altering consequences. In addition to fines, possible jail time, and driving restrictions that you will be subjected to, your employment or professional occupation is sure to suffer. Even if you are charged with impaired driving without being convicted there can be negative consequences if you are a professional driver.
Source:
http://dui.findlaw.com/dui-cases/dui-and-employment-background-checks.html
