Will A Criminal Record Affect My Current/Future Employment?
A very common question that people ask us who are, has been charged, our client says “will a criminal record will affect my job?” Well, first of all, we are not employment lawyers, but I will give you a very common sense answer to this question. It really depends on what work you are looking for, the nature of your job, in a situation. Obviously, if you are charged with DUI, and you are a travelling sales person, even the ninety day administrative licence suspension could result in a loss of job, every crime is different, every employer’s different. Employers name are doing criminal record checks, and what I say to people, “look, if I got two equal candidates, and ones got an assault charge, I’m going to hire the person without the assault charge. If someone’s got a theft charge, I’m going to do a criminal record check, I’m not going to hire them. So, those are common sense answers. If you want a real opinion, you should consult with an employment lawyer, but I think, common sense pervades here, it’s easier to get any job out there if you haven’t had a criminal record, or you are competing with people who don’t have a criminal record, and if you do get a criminal record, you should really seek to get a record suspension, after the appropriate time period to get that off your record in five years now for summary conviction offences, five years from the date of the sentence ends. Other situations are, you know, professional designations, we’ve represented a lot, frankly, lawyers and accountants, and doctors, and nurses in the province. Every situation is different, everybody is different, a DUI for example, might not affect, for example, a lawyer. I suppose it could affect a doctor, for example, or affect employment, looking for a job, I mean who the heck wants to hire some doctor that has three prior DUI’s on their record. Similarly, for every type of job, you got to look for the individual job and determine and many employers of course, are going to do criminal record checks, and it’s not a good situation to have one obviously, to secure employment.
