All too often, in the days of social media, we see people get accused of crimes and face serious ramifications without being convicted of any crime. It is very important to remember that domestic violence charges are not convictions. There is a stark difference between the two things.
An arrest just means that the police believe that a crime took place. However, experts note that some charges stem from accusations from “a vengeful former partner” or because of mistaken identity. These are just two reasons of many that could get you through the process without a conviction.
As such, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) says that just getting arrested does not give a potential employer sufficient reason to deny employment. An arrest alone does not mean you got convicted. You may have been acquitted. The charges may have been dropped before you were prosecuted. You may have done nothing wrong. People get arrested and walk away without convictions every day.
That said, if a potential employer runs a background check, your arrest may show up. Is this going to cause them to go with a different employee? Is that fair to you? It can derail a promising career even when you didn’t do anything wrong and you feel like you should not have been arrested in the first place.
This is why it is so important to know all of your legal options from the very beginning. You need to think about your future and consider the ways that arrests and convictions can impact it for many years to come.
