A wet reckless plea bargain can affect your employment negatively in California. Prospective and current employers can see your record through a background check. The conviction could sometimes influence their hiring decisions or make them fire you from your job.
Additionally, a wet reckless charge could result in losing some professional licenses, which could impact your ability to get employment in your chosen profession. However, some laws in California limit how much a criminal charge can affect employment decisions.
A Los Angeles DUI lawyer can provide more information about how wet reckless driving can affect background checks and your options for handling a DUI arrest.
How a Wet Reckless Can Impact Your Employment
A conviction for wet reckless driving on your record can impact your employment prospects in one of two ways.
A Conviction May Result in the Loss of Your Current Job
Your current employer may discover a wet reckless conviction on your criminal record as part of a routine background check. If your employer chooses to, they may terminate your employment upon discovering the conviction.
Even if the arrest happened while you were off work, your employer isn’t illegally discriminating against you for firing you. Many driving jobs have clauses in their employment handbooks or contracts stating that DUI-related charges like wet reckless can lead to immediate dismissal.
A New Employer May Choose Not to Hire You
A charge of wet reckless will affect your background check for the worse, but under California’s Fair Chance Act, employers can no longer ask about your criminal record during the application process.
Instead, employers may inquire about criminal convictions only upon issuing you a conditional offer for employment. They can do so by asking you directly or running a criminal background check, though they require your permission.
Under this new law, the employer can rescind the job offer if they discover the wet reckless conviction. They must give you an explanation in writing for their decision and allow you to respond. So, a wet reckless does affect employment in some cases.
Can You Explain Your Wet Reckless Record?
You can explain a wet reckless deal on your record to your current employer or a potential new boss to persuade them to keep you. Your response can explain where the background check was incorrect (i.e., an expunged conviction showed on your record) or why they should still hire you despite the conviction.
You may explain that you made a mistake that led to your arrest and that you don’t intend to repeat that mistake. Providing evidence that you completed DUI school or installed an ignition interlock device (IID) on your vehicle could help with your employment prospects.
Should You Tell Your Employer About a Wet Reckless Charge?
You may be better off disclosing the conviction before its discovery through other means. Explaining what happened and what steps you’re taking to ensure it doesn’t happen again may be your best shot at keeping or getting the job.
Additionally, some applications will ask if you have a criminal record. If you lie when answering this question, prospective employers may immediately disqualify you from the job search, representing another way a wet reckless does affect employment for some people.
You can speak with a criminal defense lawyer to determine the best way to approach disclosure of information about any charges on your record, including those related to a wet reckless driving conviction in California.
How Do You Get a Wet Reckless Charge on Your Record?
You may accept a wet reckless charge in California as part of a plea bargain after an arrest for driving under the influence. California does not use wet reckless allegations as a stand-alone charge, so you should only face this charge after a DUI arrest.
When you take a DUI plea bargain, the prosecution requires you to admit fault for a less serious offense in exchange for lesser penalties. However, as you have seen, a wet reckless charge will still impact your life and potentially your employment.
Expunging the Wet Reckless Conviction Will Affect Your Employment
Under the Fair Chance Act, employers may not use expunged convictions against you to rescind a job offer. Likewise, an employer you currently work for may not see the wet reckless conviction on your record after expungement.
Expungement is only possible once you have completed all the mandated terms from your conviction, making this another area in which a wet reckless conviction is better than a DUI: the shorter probation period means you may have your record expunged sooner.
How Do You Expunge a Wet Reckless Charge?
In order to have your wet reckless charge removed (expunged) from your background check, you need to file the right paperwork with the court. A DUI lawyer can help you file the necessary paperwork and, if the prosecution objects, can represent you in any proceedings to argue for the expungement.
An expungement will not purge the conviction from your driving record. A conviction may impact your ability to get certain jobs that rely on a clean driving record, but those positions may only be a small subset of jobs available.
Are There Other DUI Plea Bargains Available?
A DUI lawyer may push for a “dry” reckless plea bargain under CA Vehicle Code § 23103 after a DUI arrest. Dry reckless charges can result in fines, up to 90 days in jail, and other penalties.
However, a dry reckless charge does not count as a DUI offense. Therefore, your lawyer may push harder to get the prosecution to offer this kind of plea bargain.
An employer can also see a dry reckless conviction. Therefore, any charge you accept as part of a DUI plea bargain may affect your employment.
Contact a DUI Lawyer Today to Learn More About How Wet Reckless Can Affect Your Employment
Does a wet reckless affect employment in California? Yes, this kind of plea bargain can impact your current or future employment. Fortunately, a DUI lawyer can help you face these charges head-on to protect your future.
We can help you contact a lawyer through Los Angeles DUI Attorney to discuss your charges and their consequences. We will schedule you for a free consultation once you call or fill out our online contact form.
