Being arrested for drunk driving is a terrible experience. Afterwards, you may want to just put the whole event behind you, and hope that no one ever finds out about your criminal record. The last person you might want to tell about a driving under the influence (DUI) arrest is your employer. It may threaten your job, and gossip can spread quickly in the workplace, and soon everyone will know about your arrest. However, some jobs may require reporting of a DUI, or you risk being fired.

You may feel like it is nobody's business if you were arrested for a DUI. Luckily, many jobs and employers have no requirement that employees report a minor arrest like a DUI, but this varies by company. Other jobs that include driving, such as truck drivers, or even jobs where the employee occasionally drives the company vehicle, may require reporting a DUI. In these cases, an employee may have to suspend driving duties, or could even risk losing their job.

Driving as Part of the Job

If your job requires driving as part of your duties, you will have to tell your employer about the DUI. What happens next may depend on your boss or employer. Just as your personal auto insurance premium will go up after a DUI, if you are covered by the employer's auto insurance policy, they may also have to pay more. This applies not only to full time drivers, but also to jobs where the driver may occasionally take out the company car to meet with clients, or run errands.

When the employee loses their driver's license as a result of a DUI arrest, this will also threaten their job, and they will have to tell their employer the reason they cannot drive. It is easier than many people think to lose their driver's license after a DUI arrest. This is because there is an administrative penalty separate from the criminal process. Drivers face an automatic administrative license suspension after a DUI. From the date of arrest, a driver only has 10 days to appeal the automatic suspension. If they don't ask for a hearing within 10 days, along with a $150 fee, then the license is automatically suspended for at least 30 days. The license may even be suspended for up to an entire year.

Employer Mandatory Reporting Policies

Even if you do not have to do any driving as part of your daily job, some employers have a company policy the requires employees to report criminal charges or arrests. Even a DUI arrest may have to be reported, depending on the policy. For guidance on this topic, employees should refer to their employee handbook, contract for employment, or employee guidelines to determine whether there is a mandatory reporting policy. Unfortunately, what an employer does after notification may include firing for a DUI arrest. Although, in many cases, an employer is sympathetic to a one-time criminal charge, and will work with the employee to keep the matter discrete.

Here in Georgia, there are a number of companies in the aerospace and defense industries. Many of these any jobs require some kind of security clearance because of the nature of the job, or contracting with the government or military. Security clearance may also require self-reporting of any criminal convictions, including a DUI. Again, this will depend on the job, and the security clearance requirements.

Future Employers

Hopefully, your employer will never have to learn of your DUI arrest. However, there is a much greater likelihood of a future employer learning of your criminal record. Drunk driving arrests are part of a person's criminal record, and this will show up when an employer does a background check on a potential employee. Depending on the job and the employer, a DUI may prevent an applicant from being hired, or may be a negative mark in comparison to other job seekers.

Atlanta DUI Defense

If you were arrested for a DUI in Georgia, and are worried about having to tell your boss about the arrest, give me a call. The first thing we will do is stop your license from being automatically suspended. Then we can determine whether you even have to tell your employer about this arrest. Reporting requirements may depend on the job, and the employer. Finally, we will fight the criminal charges, and make sure the DUI remains in the past. Call me anytime, day or night.