Alcohol Abuse Advice

5 Ways A DUI Could Effect Your Professional Career

A driving under the influence charge has far sweeping consequences. This type of arrest can impact every facet of your being, including your personal, professional and social life. The ramifications of a DUI on your professional career could be especially troublesome. Employers have become less and less tolerant of these type of convictions. A close knit office environment can also work against you because word of your arrest and subsequent opinions on it will spread quickly. Here are five specific ways a DUI could effect your professional career.

1. You could get fired because of your arrest.

You could very well be fired because of your DUI, even if it had nothing to do with work. It is a common misconception that you can only be terminated for a DUI if you got arrested while on the clock or at a company function. The truth of the matter is that if you are in a profession like education or medicine, simply one DUI arrest could be disastrous. Other employers, no matter the industry, might not want someone with a record working for their company. According to my Seattle DUI lawyer at Bradley Johnson Attorneys, each state has its own labor laws and the extent of your punishment varies.

2. You will miss time at work.

DUIs come with obligations. You will have to attend court hearings, alcohol meetings, probation appointments and community service events. While some of these may be scheduled around your work day, there will be times where you have to take a day off to fulfill your legal obligations. This directly effects your career because missing work for such a reason will not make a good impression on your employer. Even though you have to miss work and your employer may not be able to terminate you, it is possible that he or she will harbor some ill feelings when it comes time for future promotions.

3. Transportation to and from work could be difficult, and effect productivity.

Since you will likely have your license suspended, transportation becomes a major issue. If you have a set 9-5 work day and have people who you can carpool with, it can become less of an issue. However, if you are the only one in your area that works at your place of business and you don’t have a set work schedule, transportation can become a major problem. Things like missing mandatory overtime can have detrimental effects on your career. In addition, being chronically late to work could also put your employment in jeopardy.

4. You will not be able to secure certain licenses.

A DUI becomes a major problem for people with transportation-based careers like bus drivers, truck drivers and taxi drivers. My Seattle DUI attorney tells me that even one DUI could mean the loss of license privilege for the rest of your life. When this is the case, the loss of your current isn’t a possibility, it is a definite. People who rely on these lines of work for income need to be especially careful when mixing alcohol and motor vehicle operation.