Might be fired from a part-time job before starting a full-time job

Question

I hope this is a relevant question. I'm a senior in college and have recently accepted a full-time offer to be an IT Business Analyst at a company that's opening up a new office in the area.

However, there's a possibility I may be fired from my current part-time job. Right now I'm driving buses for my school, and the other day I got in a minor accident in a parking lot (minor damage to a parked vehicle, virtually no damage to the bus). I let my superiors know about it as soon as it happened, and while the university police came to file a report I did not get a ticket. I've talked to my supervisor and right now nobody's sure what might happen, but I could be fired for this.

This would put me in an awkward situation. My full-time position is due to begin in June of next year (a month after I graduate), and the background verification process won't start until closer to that date.

My question is: if I do get fired from this part-time college job, is there a possibility it will affect my full-time offer? I plan on letting the company know if it does happen, just to make sure there are no discrepancies with my application (which says that I'm still employed at the part-time job, which I was when I applied).

I feel like I might be over-thinking this, but I just want to be sure I didn't mess up my future over something as irrelevant as a fender-bender.

Answer 1

Firstly, sorry you're in this situation and hopefully you won't be fired from your current job. If no one was hurt, property damage was low, and the accident was not due to some gross negligence or criminal behavior (e.g. driving while intoxicated), then a firing seems unwarranted.

My recommendation is to wait through the process with your current employer. If you're not fired, then telling your potential future employer about the situation can only serve to create problems for you.

Of course, if you are fired, then you should disclose this if it comes up during the background check you mention. Given that the jobs are so different, I would not expect this to have an impact on your future employment, as long as you're honest and the accident wasn't due to gross negligence or criminal activity on your part.

Answer 2

You were in a parking lot fender-bender, in which police did not give you any ticket. You're not a professional driver. Your new full-time job has nothing to do with driving and your new employers are not interested in your driving record. You probably will not ever have another driving job. In summary: it doesn't matter.

Answer 3

I work for a U.S. fortune 500 company, and we use many independent contractors, and employees as drivers. They often find themselves getting into minor wrecks(trucks/vans + backing up = high rate of accidents).

There are two ways this could go:

First, if you get fired for "damaging company property" that's a very, very damning offense when it comes to driving jobs for large corporations (note how I bolded that, it won't matter if you got into a vehicle accident for a non driving job). It will be a blemish on your record for driving jobs, some may rule you out immediately. for a IT Business Analyst the only way it would effect that is for renting cars for trips(and without a ticket I don't think it even will).

The other way is that you more than likely won't get fired, you'll get written up or suspended but even in the company I work for things happen, and people get into accidents. If the property damage is minor and no one was hurt the insurance increase will be low for the company. They are going to be thinking: "If we fire this guy, how much is it going to cost to train the next guy? And will he file for unemployment? Or even wrongful termination?" When they weigh out the costs and benefits, there is a very slim chance you will be terminated.

The facts as you tell them lead me to believe that without being ticketed, or hurting anyone, or putting a company vehicle out of commission you're not going to be terminated. I'd just be remorseful, polite, professional, and apologetic. Don't tell them you're worried about you're next job, tell them you're worried about THIS JOB.

Don't worry about anything until they make a decision, it may blow over quickly, I wouldn't tell your other employer about it until things have been final(good or bad), unless of course you're asked directly, then don't lie. But like I said before for a IT Analyst they're not going to care unless it effects there insurance for rental cars.