Do Duis Show Up On A Background Check

Should a DUI on a background check keep you from hiring a task candidate? In many cases, employers can exercise discretion when evaluating a candidate with a DUI. Visitor policy, the severity and historic period of the offense, and any remediation are all factors to consider. However, it's important to follow legal and regulatory requirements when making your hiring decision.

One of the more common criminal offenses flagged for employer review on pre-employment groundwork checks is DUI—driving under the influence of booze or drugs. Convictions for DUI announced in both criminal groundwork checks and driving tape checks.

A DUI conviction may dominion out hiring in certain regulated industries, but in many hiring situations, you as an employer can exercise discretion in evaluating its importance and relevance to the job you lot're filling. Depending on your jurisdiction, this type of individualized assessment may be required by constabulary, but it'southward as well a best practice to comply with Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) guidance on the utilise of criminal background checks in hiring.

This commodity will give you an overview of DUI, how sometimes-conflicting laws apply to its apply in hiring decisions, and other factors you may consider when a DUI conviction appears in an bidder'southward background bank check.

Will A DUI Show Up On A Background Check?

Driving nether the influence of booze or drugs is a criminal law-breaking, and criminal groundwork checks will disclose convictions for DUI—known in some jurisdictions as DWI (driving while intoxicated) or OUI (operating [a motor vehicle] under the influence). If a pre-employment groundwork screening includes a driving record check or motor vehicle record check (MVR), a DUI conviction is likely to appear at that place too.

In the absence of a conviction, a DUI arrest may too prove upward on a background cheque if the case is notwithstanding pending—that is, if a court hasn't yet issued a verdict in the affair. Some background check companies will also report DUI arrests that did non effect in a conviction, equally long every bit the filing date of the instance is within the last seven years, as immune past federal and land constabulary. While GoodHire reports awaiting cases, GoodHire excludes DUI not-convictions from pre-employment background screens in an endeavour to assistance employers comply with EEOC guidance which suggests that arrests non leading to conviction should not be considered for hiring purposes.

Illustration showing GoodHires MVR screening option

DUIs & Background Check Failure

Will a candidate with a DUI on their tape neglect a background check? A DUI will certainly trigger an warning on the background check, but that doesn't necessarily mean "declining" the cheque. While applicants whose groundwork checks come back alarm-free are frequently said to accept "passed" their screenings, the opposite isn't necessarily truthful.

A background bank check alert, or "hit," near a DUI conviction or other criminal record merely flags the item every bit an issue that requires employer review and consideration. Whether you consider a DUI conviction grounds for declining to hire a candidate can depend on multiple factors.

DUIs & Hiring Decisions

Unless y'all're hiring for a position that is legally off-limits to applicants with a DUIs on their records, you can consider the post-obit when making a hiring decision:

Whether company policy has whatsoever stipulations about hiring persons with criminal records for item positions.
If the position the candidate seeks requires driving a vehicle, operating potentially dangerous equipment, or working with children or other vulnerable persons.
Whether the DUI conviction is a misdemeanor or a felony. Misdemeanor convictions are common with most first offenses. Felony DUI convictions may indicate a repeat offense, that the criminal offense led to injury or death, or that minor children were in the vehicle at the fourth dimension of the crime.
The historic period of the offense. Depending on your and your candidate's location, DUI convictions may exist reported in background checks indefinitely. Certain state laws may limit reporting to seven or x years. A conviction may have different implications for the hiring decision if, for example, you are considering a recent case versus one that is a decade sometime from an bidder with an otherwise clean record.
Remediation or rehab. Y'all may accept into consideration applicants' documented completion of programs aimed at helping them change their habits and avoid re-offending.

DUIs & Background Checks: Legal Considerations

The legal requirements around DUI tin can sometimes seem contradictory. Regulations can forestall hiring someone with a DUI on their record for certain jobs, such as driving a tractor-trailer or a school autobus. Yet information technology may be frowned upon to use a criminal conviction (including one for DUI) as the sole basis for turning down a job bidder for other jobs—a point we address below in our discussion of federal fair hiring laws.

Hither are some legal issues to consider if a DUI shows upwards on an applicant'southward background check.

Federal Laws

FCRA

All pre-employment background checks are subject to the consent requirements spelled out in the federal Off-white Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). You'll detect a more than detailed review of FCRA and its requirements here, but its provisions include:

Notifying each job candidate in writing that you intend to run a background check on them.
Obtaining each applicant'south written consent to bear a background check.
If you decide not to rent on the basis of the background check, providing the candidate with the results of their background cheque and giving them an opportunity to dispute any inaccuracies with the background check provider.
Following the agin action procedure if background bank check findings point to a decision against hiring the candidate.

EEOC Requirements

In social club to avoid liability under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, employers should follow fair hiring practices spelled out by the EEOC on the utilise of criminal records in hiring. EEOC guidance suggests that an employer should not reject a chore applicant based solely on past arrests or criminal convictions, provided no land or federal regulations forestall persons with criminal records from holding the task, and the offense isn't relevant to job requirements.

Individuals with criminal records including DUIs must exist considered on a case-by-case basis, and mitigating circumstances such as how long agone the crime occurred, the age of the applicant at the time of the crime, completion of rehabilitation or diversion programs, satisfactory task functioning in a similar role, and other context should be considered.

DOT Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse

As of Jan 2020, all US organizations that employ drivers who require commercial driver's licenses (CDLs) must consult the Department of Transportation'southward Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse as part of their pre-hiring screening process. This database tracks commercial driver records for DUIs and other drug or alcohol related infractions such every bit failed or refused drug tests, and whether a driver with an infraction has been cleared for render to duty past a substance-abuse professional.

The clearinghouse requires and provides web forms for obtaining driver consent to run each query; if a commuter refuses consent, they cannot be hired for a "safety-sensitive" position, including driving a commercial motor vehicle.

Cover of GoodHire guide about what to consider when you decide not to hire.

Country Laws

Local state, county, and city off-white hiring laws, also called "ban the box" laws, prohibit employers from asking about past convictions or incarceration on task awarding forms. The laws typically allow employers to inquire about criminal convictions (including DUIs) and factor them into the hiring process, but only later in the hiring process (typically afterwards the initial interview or subsequently a conditional offer has been made).

Details of these measures vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Some country and local laws forbid employers from considering misdemeanor or other low level convictions if the offender completes rehab or remediation, for instance; others require that employers extend the waiting period between pre- and final agin action to allow the candidate more than time to dispute their results.

Professional background check providers such as GoodHire, which operates in all Us jurisdictions, can aid employers navigate overlapping federal and state hiring laws, and help avoid inadvertent compliance mistakes.

Make The Correct Call

The appearance of a DUI conviction in a groundwork check will affair in different ways to dissimilar employers. It's important for employers to understand the nature of the offense, its ranges of severity, and the legal and regulatory requirements information technology triggers in connection with unlike types of jobs. It's also important for hiring managers to empathize the extent of their discretion when considering a DUI alert, and other factors they can weigh when because its bear upon on task fitness. Finally, if a DUI confidence turns out to be grounds for declining a job applicant, it's critical to comply with FCRA and fair hiring laws when notifying the candidate.

Working with a professional background bank check provider such as GoodHire can give employers confidence that their screening procedure complies with the FCRA and applicable state and local fair hiring laws. Equally a compliance-oriented background check provider, GoodHire allows 60 minutes teams and hiring managers to focus on job candidates' skills and qualifications for the position. Sometimes, that means weighing the significance of an bidder's by missteps against their value as employees today.

GoodHire's background check platform makes it easy to order reports and review results.

Disclaimer

The resources provided here are for educational purposes just and do non constitute legal communication. We advise you to consult your own counsel if you have legal questions related to your specific practices and compliance with applicable laws.

About the Author

Jim Akin is a Connecticut-based freelance writer and editor with experience in employee relations, media relations, and social-media outreach. He has produced content and managed internal communications, business-to-business outreach, and consumer-focused campaigns for clients including Experian, VantageScore Solutions, Pitney Bowes, Medtronic, Microsoft, and Coca-Cola.