How to tell my employer about my license application is delayed due to a "crime"...

[Guest ERCat]

Long story short, when I was 20 years old I briefly went into the wrong area in a secure building in order to greet someone I hadn't seen for a long time. When security asked what I was doing, I freaked out and said that I left something behind (which was a lie) and didn't mean any harm and that I would leave immediately. It was a dumb situation but there was absolutely no malicious intent whatsoever. I left 15 minutes later, and a few days later I ended up getting slapped with two misdemeanors, which were both dismissed. No convictions.

 

This stupid situation is haunting me for the rest of my life basically. I graduated and took my boards in August, and I have been biting my nails waiting for my license to come in. I accepted my dream job, and they wanted me to start working in the fall. I keep having to put them off, telling them I don't have my license yet. I am extra nervous because the credentialing process will take 60 to 90 days from the time I get my license. Everyone in my class has received their license, I was just told that the board will have to have a meeting in order to grant approval for my license. The problem is, that meeting is two months away. That means I would get my license at the end of November, and the credentialing period of 60 to 90 days would start then. That means I would not be working until February of next year. I was hired into this dream job back in July, and I don't think they were anticipating that it would take six months for me to begin.

 

Every week I keep getting asked about the status of my license and I keep having to tell them I'm not sure but it should be any day now. Now that I l know about the necessary board meeting (I just found out yesterday) I am dreading having to tell them that I won't have my license until the end of November. I already signed my contract with them, but I am afraid they are going to get fed up and tell me that they don't need me anymore. Heck, they could hire someone right now who already has a license and their credentialing process would be done in November.

 

What should I do?

 

I should also note that yes, I already disclosed these "crimes" to my job. They haven't heard the full story, but they don't seem too concerned about it. So it shouldn't be surprising to them to hear that they have to have a board meeting in order for me to have my license… But I just feel like it makes me look bad.

 

 

 

PS. One of the members on the board taught a few classes to my class. She probably wouldn't remember me, but would it be rude if I sent her an email? I am willing to do whatever it takes, from getting character references to meeting with them in person, in order to get my license sooner.

[loliz]

Just to clarify--- are you sure this is even an issue? Did the board tell you that there was a problem?

--EVERY license goes to a board meeting to be approved. Many states only have these meetings 4-5 times a year. If your license has a scheduled board meeting, that means that things are moving forward. 

--August was LAST MONTH. Like one month. As in not that long ago at all... Not unusual to have to wait awhile before license is approved (because of above reasons). Does your state have an option for a temporary license so that credentialing can start while your permanent license is pending?

 

I'm not saying you should not be concerned about a criminal past (although it doesn't appear that you have one), but it is not unheard of for state licensing boards to take their sweet time. You may want to call the board and clarify what the hold up is and if it is in fact because of this misdemeanor, ask if there is any info/documents that you can provide to help move things forward. 

[Guest ERCat]

Hey, thanks for your reply.

 

In my state the only people who need to have the board meeting for approval are those with criminal records or other issues. Every single person in my class has their license at this point and are starting to work.

 

Also, in my state, there are no options for temporary licenses.

[Guest ERCat]

And yeah, I spoke to the board several times. I've been talking to them frequently because I see that other students in my class have their licenses and I don't. They told me that mine has to go to review at the next board meeting which isn't for another two months.

[loliz]

Ok- wasn't sure from your initial post. Good luck! Just keep in mind... it will work out. Just might take a little longer than you expected.

[cop to pa]

Two questions:

What state?

What record? A criminal record traditionally means convictions.

[Guest ERCat]

I am in AZ.

 

And no, these are charges and not convictions but the license application specifically asked about charges, even if they were expunged from your record. The board told me that anyone who answers yes to this question has to go under this review. To me that doesn't seem fair. That basically means that even people who were unfairly charged with a crime and were determined to be innocent and the charges were dropped it would fall in this category.

 

Call me crazy, but I think that if charges are dismissed and there's no conviction there should be no issue. But that is not what the regulatory board thinks. I'm honestly heartbroken about this… It sounds dramatic but I was expecting to be working by October and it's going to be an extremely difficult thing to not work until February, especially with all of my loans. I'm going to simply have to work in a coffee shop or something like that for the next several months. :-(

[rev ronin]

Did you answer "yes", that you had been charged?

[cop to pa]

I'm a bit confused. According to the application, it asks only for charges of 'moral turpitude', such as robbery, kidnapping, murder, fraud, etc. The only thing I see that may qualify would be false report to law enforcement. If that's what you were charged with, then yeah, the board's going to review it. If you want, pm me your charges.

[Reality Check 2]

misdemeanors shouldn't count for squat.

I had friends arrested for protesting against heartfelt issues and they were never denied licenses.

Sounds like AZ needs to meet the present and the future......

[CAAdmission]

What were you doing? Sneaking into Area 51?

 

[Guest ERCat]

Yes, I had to check the answer "yes" that I have been charged of a crime of moral turpitude. One of the charges against me was for false reporting to law-enforcement. This charge was immediately dismissed without question, with prejudice by the judge because she thought it was too much and had a lot of weight for the situation. The other charge was trespassing, for which I did some community service and a little diversion program, and it was dismissed.

 

It just sucks because there was literally no investigation that went forward for the false reporting charge. It was literally dismissed without question. I did no diversion for it or anything. So that's part of the reason why I feel like maybe I'm deserving of a little more slack. What's the point of even having a fair trial if they are going to use something like this against me..

 

If you must know, the incident happened at the airport. You can imagine how strict the security is, and I, as a young person who hadn't really done much traveling at the airport, didn't understand the ramifications of walking up the ramp the wrong way. Yes, I walked up the ramp the wrong way to greet someone.

 

I know it sounds dramatic, but I'm honestly heartbroken. After all the work that I did… I am now forced to go several months without income. I genuinely don't understand why they have to have a board meeting about this. Crimes of moral turpitude include rape, armed robbery, assault with a deadly weapon, shoplifting, insurance fraud… as dramatic as it sounds, my confidence feels totally deflated. I was so excited to begin my job. I was already upset that the credentialing process was going to take three months from the time I get my license. Now we can slap on another two months… And there you have it, half of the year with no job.

 

I am dreading telling my employer this because if the board is questioning my fitness to become a PA, maybe they'll question me as well. And the fact that they could hire someone who already has a license right now and would be able to work months before I could… I am so worried I am going to lose the job over this. What should

I even say?

 

My plan is to simply find a temporary job at a coffee shop or something. I thought about working a temporary job In another state... Does anyone know of any states that have a super fast licensing process, or states that would allow me to work there on a temporary license? Or does anyone have any ideas of jobs I can do during my wait time?

[rev ronin]

 The other charge was trespassing, for which I did some community service and a little diversion program, and it was dismissed.

Uh-oh.  I'm not a lawyer, but if they made you do ANYTHING at all (fine, community service, etc.), that's not a dismissal, it's a conviction.

 

Get your own lawyer.  Yesterday.  Well, three years ago would have been better, but the longer you go without, the worse off you will be.  If you'd addressed this years ago, it could likely have been dealt with proactively, but now you appear to be in the reactive phase.  I'm glad it didn't screw up your rotations or your graduation.

[Guest ERCat]

That is not true. I was never convicted of anything. My record says I was charged and that the charges were dismissed.

 

Besides -- the community service I did was for the trespassing charge, which the board doesn't care about. The charge they care about is the charge of moral turpitude, which is the false reporting to law-enforcement. That is the one that was dropped immediately and I did not do any community service or anything for that charge.

[rev ronin]

Yeah, I'm not going to have a debate between two non-lawyers about what is considered a conviction and what isn't.  I'm not particularly sure that it is a conviction or not, especially after doing a bit more reading on the topic: http://www.avvo.com/legal-answers/is-a-pretrial-diversion-a-conviction--156611.html

 

But one thing you'll notice there, in the multiple attorneys giving answers, is that the details matter, and you might not know which ones matter or not.  Hence, my completely earnest advice to get your own attorney to see where you are on this.

[cinntsp]

Yeah, I'm not going to have a debate between two non-lawyers about what is considered a conviction and what isn't.  I'm not particularly sure that it is a conviction or not, especially after doing a bit more reading on the topic: http://www.avvo.com/legal-answers/is-a-pretrial-diversion-a-conviction--156611.html

 

But one thing you'll notice there, in the multiple attorneys giving answers, is that the details matter, and you might not know which ones matter or not.  Hence, my completely earnest advice to get your own attorney to see where you are on this.

 

It's probably deferred adjudication, in which case there is no formal conviction.  

[Acebecker]

I'm going to go out on a limb here and disagree with you about a couple of things.  The first is that you are not responsible for this - you state that you are deserving of "slack."  But, you lied to the federal authorities about what you were doing on the ramp.  Yeah, your lie was a gut reaction to a scary situation - but you did lie.  You even said so in your first post.  While your crime was smaller than most acts of moral turpitude, it was, in fact, an act of moral turpitude. 

 

Second, it seems like the feeling of deflation is a little over-the-top.  You have something that the state board of medicine feels that you need to be owning up to, so own up to it with your employers.  If their reaction is to rescind the offer of employment for something so silly as what you have going on, then you didn't want to work for them anyway.  My bet would be that you will be just fine if you tell them straight up that your license is held up because you violated airport security once upon a time.  Why you did it does not matter, the fact that the judge even felt it was dumb does not matter, how mistreated you feel does not matter.  Don't make excuses.  If you present it to your employers without offering excuses and demonstrate that you have the backbone to accept responsibility for this, it will show them that you *are* the kind of person they want to hire. 

 

Take a deep breath, be honest with your employers.  You will be ok.  If you have to take a temp job, so be it.  You will come out a better person for it in the end. 

[Guest ERCat]

Thanks for all your responses.

 

Acebecker -- you are totally right. Once the initial anger wore off earlier today, I came to that same conclusion. I did what I did and I am not totally innocent.

 

I wrote a really respectful letter to the board today asking them to consider a few aspects of the case they may not have considered and offered to do whatever it takes to make the process easier. But sadly I am looking at waiting until the end of November for my license. I don't expect they would make any special exceptions for me... Although it totally sucks.