Do I need to tell a new employer about a driving ban?

[Lily27]

Hi all,

I have a question re driving ban.

I exceeded 12 points for band A speeding - this was for exceeding 20 MPH, not high speed. DVLA have said that this will incur a magistrate appearance and six months disqualification. I plan to appeal this as I have due to some personal care responsibilities.

The complicating factor is that I'm moving to a new job (currently awaiting contract, which should be with me in a week or so) - the job doesn't require me to drive but I am not sure whether I need to disclose this in good faith to them.

Does this not have to be disclosed to my employer because it is a civil not a criminal conviction?

What do you reckon?

It IS a criminal conviction.

There is obviously a back story here as you won't get 12-points for a single offence "not high speed" so I presume that you already had points and this will tip you over the limit?

Have your new company specifically asked you about criminal convictions (a normal question I believe) as if so, you need to declare it and let them decide if it is relevant.
If it came out later and they had any kind of grievance with you, lying on your application or not keeping them up to date with relevant details during onboarding could go against you.

Is there any concern on how you will get to work without a licence, do you live close or are there good PT links?

Hi, thanks for replying - it wasn't for a single offence, it was racked up over three years. all of the offences were for exceeding slightly 20mph limit, not for speeding as such.

i can use public transport and will need to do this.

Check your contact. I don’t have a driving job but my contract requires me to tell them about points and disqualification. If I did get enough points to lose my licence on one hand my job isn’t to drive so as long as I can get myself to work and any meetings then I should be ok, but I’m in a senior role so any disrepute might be a factor.

"all of the offences were for exceeding slightly 20mph limit, not for speeding as such."

This way of thinking is why you are now facing a ban. A limit is a limit. There's no such thing as 'not speeding as such." It's speeding. The fatality rate is 5 to 7 times higher when a car is travelling at 30mph vs 20mph, which is why some areas have 20mph limits.

You are correct that racking up points that lead to a ban is NOT a criminal offence - that would be when you're banned for something like drink driving. I know because my husband did the same thing a few years ago...He did tell his employer, it didn't matter as he only had to drive when abroad for business (and interestingly, the ban doesn't apply overseas!)

It depends on the job/contract.

i would say if they ask, you must disclose. If they don’t ask, don’t tell.

have you been asked about offences, criminal or otherwise?

12 points though is 5 speeding offences in 3 years? 4x 3 points, plus the first you would be offered a course. Tbh that seems reckless, surely you’d take more care after the second offence, let alone the 4th!

Unless your employer asks you to disclose criminal convictions then you don’t need to.

Thanks all,

in response:

the 12 points is for 4 times just over 20 mph (specifically, these were 24mph, 23, 27, 25) - all these in London. so these points were totted up over 3 years and added up to 12 points ( 4 times x 3 points each)

Out of interest, if you successfully appeal the ban, how do you plan on ensuring it doesn’t keep happening?

Why on earth when you’d been caught the first and second times did you not slow the fuck down and keep within the speed limit?

did you not realise about totting up bans?

what sort of planet do you not link actions and consequence. Go over the speed limit, get points. Keep doing it, get more points. Did it not cross your mind that under the speed limit and you wouldn’t get points?

mind boggles.

All of them were for speeding.

I get the impression you don’t think this is ‘real’ speeding. Speeding is exceeding the speed limit. You’re pretty flippant about it which is quite annoying to read.

I don’t actually know what you’re employer would need to know, but you should probably be careful how you phrase it/your tone, if you disclose verbally as you clearly don’t see what you’ve done wrong.

If they ask you’ll have to tell them, if they don’t ask then no.
However, after the 3rd time when you were on 9 points didn’t you think you needed to make sure you didn’t go over the speed limit at any time at all, especially in London where there are cameras everywhere?
If an employee told me this I would wonder how intelligent they actually were

@Lily27 No. You do not need to mention it.

No need to tell them. Unless the job requires you to drive of course.

When people ask you to declare 'criminal convictions' it usually doesn't include driving offences. So, no need to mention it.

I'd tell them just to be transparent.

What might concern me as an employer is that losing your driving licence especially under 'totting up' suggests a significant lack of judgement.

Would you expect a criminal conviction for a non driving related offence to be ignored?

That is speeding then?

Why were you not offered a course for at least one of them - or did you have points/course previously

It IS a criminal conviction.

So called 'minor' or 'non recordable' driving offences (driving in a bus lane, non-excessive speeding) dealt with via FPNs are not considered criminal convictions or cautions in isolation. There's no finding of guilt by a court, so they do not appear on a person's criminal record or a standard/enhanced DBS check.

The same generally goes for a 'totting up' ban involving such offences. It's a civil, administrative penalty imposed by a court, not a criminal conviction.

Whether or not OP 'needs' to mention it depends entirely on the exact wording of the request.

If it explicitly only mentions 'unspent criminal convictions', OP is likely not required to disclose.

If driving offences are mentioned specifically, or there's any indication that they'll ask for OPs driving record, they'll have to disclose.

If the request is any broader, or requires OP to disclose civil issues, or anything that might bring the company into disrepute, she should disclose.

As an employer, learning that a potential hire was recently banned from driving for repeatedly, regularly committing the same speeding offence would raise serious questions about their judgement, attitude and character.

@Lily27 can I suggest that when you get your licence back you get a car with a speed limiter and religiously use it? My DDs are learning to drive and it was the first thing I insisted on. I used to apply it for them when they first started, then they gradually incorporated it into their driving. Now it's a reflex. As they approach a speed limit sign, they adjust their limiter to match. Most limiters will go to 19mph.

Op buy a car with cruise control and a sleek limiter! I haven’t had one speeding fine in 25 years.

I now use cruise control and I drive pretty sedately. My friend is a nervous driver and is awful at driving and she has a lot of fines too.

To be fair to the OP - in my London Borough they are randomly sticking 20mph limits all
over the place and the roads change from one to the other. It’s also not logical. One main road is 30, another is 20 and yet the side road that goes off the main road is 30! They have also changed lots of 40’s to 30 - it’s a bloody nightmare to keep track of.

My brother went to the magistrates court to appeal his ban for accumulated points, he was successful but was landed with a large fine. He employed people and had to drive all over the country to sites. He’s an idiot who exceeds speed limits and uses mobile phone when driving, it being important is no excuse.

It really depends on individual circumstances.

My contract says I have to inform my employer if I get even one speeding ticket. I don’t have to drive to or for work but it’s a legally sensitive role.