kinda long... and looking for serious feedback.

I'm filling out a background check form and what not for a job. there is a question that reads:

Quote :

"Have you ever been found guilty of any violation of law other than a minor traffic ticket? (For example, if you have been found guilty of writing worthless checks, driving while impaired, driving while license revoked, etc. you must answer "yes" to this question.)"

I got a ticket for driving with a suspended license a while back and the cop took my license. I have not gone to court yet (been pushed back a couple of times and it's scheduled for middle of august). I had no idea my license was suspended when I was stopped. A lawyer was able to get that fixed in a couple of days -- my license is not currently suspended, I have a valid license and have had it since like 2 days after the incident. not sure if the charges will get dropped or not. But, i'm comfortable answer "No" to that question simply because it's pending and I haven't been found guilty at all.

Another question on the form is:

Quote :

"Do you have criminal charges or procedures pending against you?"

They don't use the verbiage "criminal charges" anywhere else; is this considered "criminal charges?" Does that have any real meaning or do they just mean "charges?"

I would like to just say No. But I don't want to say no if this is considered criminal charges and then not get a job because of that.

Thoughts?

Aslo, are pending court cases something they can access during a background check?

7/22/2010 4:57:41 PM

Definitely no for the first one, as you have not been found guilty....yet.

The second I would say yes. They aren't going to close you off from a job for answering yes, but they may ask you about it later on and you can explain yourself. Ive had to check "yes" for much worse charges (not conviction) and I was asked to explain it, did so and still got the job. Better safe to be honest in this situation imo

7/22/2010 5:04:56 PM

If you omit this from your application and they hire you, what happens when you need to go to court?

7/22/2010 5:05:10 PM

1)No--if it is pending, you have not yet been found guilty.
2)Yes--you have a pending case for criminal activity, whether or not they can access the pending case idk. Maybe you can give more detail when you answer this question (I didn't know my license was suspended for X reason--now it is unsuspended, but the case is still pending.)

7/22/2010 5:08:16 PM

Yes to either question is an instant trash bin for your resume.

Make up your own mind, but that's the truth.

7/22/2010 5:38:14 PM

talked to a cop and found out it's a misdemeanor and that the court date will show up on a background check.
I've already been all but offered the job, the application stuff is just a formality.

They asked to supply a detailed explanation for any "yes" responses, so I guess what I'm gonna have to do.

Thanks for the input.

7/22/2010 6:43:41 PM

Quote :

"They aren't going to close you off from a job for answering yes, but they may ask you about it later on and you can explain yourself."

uh, yeah they will

7/22/2010 7:34:33 PM

As people have already said, you are not yet guilty. Answer the question with a No knowing that you are covered legally.

7/22/2010 7:39:36 PM

Def good call on answering yes to the second question. You were charged with a crime so yes, it is a criminal charge. That term really doesnt make any distinction between serious crimes and more petty offenses. They will absolutely be able to see your pending charges and court date with a background check, youll be on the docket which is accessible to the public.

7/22/2010 7:49:55 PM

yeah, I'm gonna answer No to the first question - which I knew would be legit.

I'm a little bummed to find out i have to answer yes to the other. But they ask to include a detailed explanation, so I'll just explain and let them know that my license isn't currently suspended. -- don't think there's really much else I can do other than go that route and hope it's not a deal breaker.

7/22/2010 8:03:10 PM

"Only guilty people get charged with a crime. Better hire one of the 1000 others that applied."

Not that I don't feel your pain. I got a traffic ticket a while back and paid a lawyer. He wrote me back that everything had been taken care of. Six weeks later my license is suspended. I showed up at his office and scared away everyone in the waiting room. He said it wasn't his fault and "the government loses paperwork all the time" which is entirely believable as well.

[Edited on July 22, 2010 at 9:41 PM. Reason : .]

7/22/2010 9:36:20 PM

Someone I know had a minor traffic violation. Paid an attorney, was told everything was good. He got pulled for something, ran his license and it was suspended for failing to go to court. Turns out the attorney forgot to represent him and now he's got a suspended license for 6 months.

To relate to the thread, I don't think a "yes" will deny you from this job with a description. Especially since you said the application is a formality and you have contact with them already. If it was an application in a large stack, you would be in the probably not hire/trash pile. It sucks, but our society really doesn't run on innocent until guilty.

7/23/2010 1:05:32 PM

I'm currently going through something similar.

Paid a lawyer in 2008 to defend me on a stop sign violation.

He continued the case for several months. Eventually I received notice in the mail that my license was being suspended for failure to appear.

Called lawyer. Lawyer's secretary told me my case was closed, but she didn't know why because she didn't see a verdict in their documentation. She called me back the next day and blamed it on the clerk of court. I don't really believe that, but whatever...The lawyer took care of it and got me a new court date.

A month later I get a letter in the mail...The lawyer plead me to a lesser charge of speeding 34 MPH in a 25MPH zone. Ok, cool. My insurance won't be hit.

A year and a half passes and I notice a little notation in my insurance renewal saying something to the effect that I am paying a premium due to points on my license. I call Raleigh District Court and they tell me that the lawyer plead guilty to the charge on my behalf.

I called the lawyer (Wednesday) and they tell me that it is an error on the clerk of court. They'll have it fixed by Friday (Today).

We'll see how this turns out. Does the clerk of court really fuck up this much? I'm skeptical.

[Edited on July 23, 2010 at 1:30 PM. Reason : s]

7/23/2010 1:29:57 PM

Quote :

"Quote : "They aren't going to close you off from a job for answering yes, but they may ask you about it later on and you can explain yourself.""

Quote :

"uh, yeah they will"

Not in my experience. I just accepted my 4th professional position since college. I had a felony drug charge (faulty) that got settled for a misdemeanor. An application is a formality, and they dont worry about that until after you interview. If they like you enough, they will ask for details on the charge and determine if its severe enough to prevent employment. If an F charge passes Inv banking / securities licensing background searches, im sure a driving with expired license will be ok, especially since he can explain it. Just my opinion.

7/23/2010 1:45:33 PM

Yeah I too have recently been through this and there is no way that will prevent you from getting a job.

For my most recent job I actually received a copy of the background check and was surprised how much detail was there. Even incidents where charges are dismissed because they realized they had the wrong person show up on your background check. So always answer honestly because everything will show. The only thing that usually prevents you from being hired is if you lie or if whatever charge you have directly conflicts with the task you will be performing.

7/23/2010 2:05:20 PM

Quote :

"Does the clerk of court really fuck up this much?"

Do they fuck up, absolutely. If youre ever in the courthouse, poke your head into the clerks office and see how busy it always is. And that is just the part of the clerks office that you can see, its just as crazy in the back. Those people deal with an insane amount of paperwork that they file and/or enter in the computer system from handwritten documents. Mistakes do happen and files do get misplaced.

HOWEVER, Lots of people know this and use them as scapegoats when you call them out for not doing their job.

7/23/2010 2:20:59 PM

Wake county had me down for pleading guilty to a felony instead of a misdemeanor for about 6 years now and I only found out about it in January when I was denied for a gun permit. It took about three weeks to correct it and send me proof, but the damage is pretty much done because most of those background sites just crawl a bunch of public data and store it in their database. Shit's never updated or corrected or 100% accurate -- So I would most certainly HOPE that an employer wouldn't use it as an excuse to trash your resume but who knows.

7/23/2010 7:10:18 PM

ibt well you should not be a criminal then

7/24/2010 11:18:07 AM

with the unemployment rate at around 9%, I would shit can the resume. It is not a employee market......there are 100s of people just as qualified that dont have criminal issues....(guilty or not)...just to put yourself in the situation speaks volumes....

7/24/2010 7:42:05 PM

ehh, then i think you may be an idiot. Would you throw away the best candidate due to this? We're not talking about assault or larceny or anything like that here.

when the cop pulled me over and told me my license was suspended, it was news to me. I knew nothing of it. A lawyer had my license reinstated 2 days later (really just the time it took for them to draw up the contract, get it to and from me along with a check). There is nothing wrong with my license. It's just a matter of waiting for the court date, at which point it will most likely be dropped.

I had already been through the interview process before I created this thread. They want to make me an offer. He called me friday and told me it's just a matter of reviewing my formal application, which he himself said was just bureaucratic b.s. that he had to go online and approve before the HR department would make me an offer. He's already called all of my references, they called/ emailed me thursday and friday to let me know that they'd just gotten off the phone with him. And I know those references were all stellar.

Great interviews, great references, great resume. They want to hire me. The only question is whether or not this will change that. It's not a single resume in a stack. It's one thing on the record of the person they want to hire at this point.

and in the long run... it's nothing. My license is valid and will stay valid. The charges will most likely be dismissed. I have great references and a great amount of experience related to the position. Do they throw away what they already believe to be their best candidate because of this? Personally, I think it would be stupid to let this sort of thing get in the way of that. But I'll find out for sure at the beginning of this coming week.

7/24/2010 8:39:29 PM

I would list it, better safe than sorry. Most employers will automatically disqualify you for any sort of deception on your application.

7/24/2010 10:20:57 PM

I know this isn't going to help much after the fact, but I strongly recommend to anyone reading this that you check up on your attorney for traffic tickets.

I have a friend down South who is currently doing thirty days in jail because a speeding ticket he thought was handled was not handled. When they arrested him, he paid for the ticket and explained himself and everything, and they still put him in jail. His bunkmate is there for the same thing...

THIRTY DAYS

7/24/2010 10:46:49 PM

^ See: message_topic.aspx?topic=567977

7/24/2010 10:55:03 PM

^Seriously!

But his situation is actually kind of hilarious because he and his entire family are independently wealthy, and they can't get their minds around the fact that this county will not budge. Plus, they're all pissed at him for using a random attorney instead of consulting their family attorney.

They've pretty much gotten away with murder, but they consider what is happening to him to be the greatest injustice ever!!!1!1! AHA

7/24/2010 11:31:15 PM

^visit him every day, maybe future husband?

[Edited on July 25, 2010 at 12:56 AM. Reason : w]

7/25/2010 12:56:26 AM

AHA, I'm not gonna be an emaciated blonde with implants any time soon, so no...

But good looking out for a lady's future.

7/25/2010 1:50:49 AM