If you’ve been arrested and charged with DUI, you can start to feel the effects on your life immediately. Even if you’ve been released from jail, police probably kept your driver’s license. You may have had to post bail.
In the meantime, you need to go to work. A lot of people are unclear about whether they need to tell their boss or someone else in the company about their arrest. That depends largely on what kind of job you have.
When do you need to notify your employer?
First, if your job requires driving (apart from getting to and from work), you do need to notify them that your driver’s license has been suspended. You don’t want to risk driving a company vehicle, whether it’s a commercial vehicle or not, with a suspended license.
If you work for an employer or under an employment agreement that requires you to report an arrest, then you do need to. Failing to report it could put your job at risk. If you have some type of professional license that requires reporting an arrest to the licensing board, you have to do that. You need to find out whether you’re also required to report it to your employer.
What if you aren’t required to notify them?
As long as you can still find a way to get to and from work and do your job that doesn’t involve driving, then you can keep it to yourself. Here are a couple of cautionary notes:
- If you’re not going to tell your boss, it’s best not to tell any of your co-workers. Bosses never like to be the last to know something that their employees know.
- If you’re going to need time off to deal with court dates or maybe other obligations resulting from your arrest, ask for that time off as far in advance as possible.
- If the arrest doesn’t affect your ability to do your job and you haven’t violated any terms of your employment, the arrest itself shouldn’t jeopardize your job. A conviction or guilty plea could potentially be another matter.
Once you have legal guidance, you can determine how best to deal with the charge, depending on the circumstances. Having legal representation will also give you your best chance of putting this behind you.