Brooks Law Firm
A pending charge does not mean you are about to lose your job. Most people charged in Shelby County work straight through the case. What ends jobs is a missed reporting deadline, a false answer on a form, or a story told to the wrong person. The rules differ at Memphis’s largest employers, and those are covered below.
The questions to ask this week
Do I have to tell my employer?
Not under Tennessee law. Possibly under a policy you signed. Handbooks, union contracts, DOT rules, and security badges often require a report of an arrest or charge within 24 to 72 hours. Read yours tonight. If it says report, report in writing, in one sentence: “I was charged with ___ on ___. I have counsel and the matter is pending.” If it says nothing, you are usually not required to volunteer it, and there is rarely a benefit.
Will they find out anyway?
Only if something triggers a check: a promotion, a transfer into a security-sensitive role, an annual re-screen, an annual driving-record pull, or a coworker. Current employees are rarely re-checked without a reason. New applicants should assume it will show — here is exactly what appears.
Can I be fired for a charge I have not been convicted of?
Usually, yes. Tennessee is at-will. Two things temper it: many employers wait for the outcome, and a dismissal changes the conversation entirely; and a policy that says “conviction” means conviction — read the word. Government employees and union members have procedures before termination. Learn them before anyone schedules a meeting.
What do I say if asked?
“I was charged. I have a lawyer. It is pending and I cannot discuss it.” That is the whole answer. Never give a false answer on a form or in an interview: it is a firing offense by itself, and on government forms it is a separate crime.
Memphis’s big employers
FedEx and the airport hub
Two different worlds inside one company. Package handlers and office staff are under the handbook. Anyone with a SIDA badge — unescorted access at the hub — is under federal aviation rules: a fingerprint check against a list of disqualifying offenses, and a duty to report a disqualifying conviction and surrender the badge within 24 hours. The list is mostly serious felonies, and the trigger is the conviction, not the charge. That makes the plea the dangerous moment, not the arrest. Drivers are under the DOT rules below.
UPS, Amazon, Walmart, and the distribution centers
Warehouse and fulfillment roles screen after a conditional offer, evaluate case by case, and can rescind. A pending charge shows as pending; a later dismissal replaces it. Drivers are different. If you drive a vehicle over 10,001 pounds — a UPS package car, a FedEx Ground truck, an Amazon delivery van in many fleets — you are a DOT-regulated driver even without a CDL. Your carrier pulls your driving record at least once a year, so a traffic conviction surfaces whether or not you say anything, and the handbook usually requires sooner. If you hold a CDL, the federal clocks are short — see charged and your license.
The hospital systems
Methodist, Baptist, St. Jude, Regional One: licensed staff answer to a board as well as to HR, and hospital policy typically requires an arrest report within days — shorter than any board’s rule. Non-licensed staff are still under fingerprint checks for many roles. Read the policy; the deadline is the whole question this week. The board side is on the license page.
City, county, state, and the schools
Public employers have procedures before discipline, and Tennessee’s ban-the-box law keeps the criminal-history question off initial applications for state jobs. School employees: a charge can trigger a separate district process, and certain offenses must be reported to the state. Police officers: the certification rules are on the license page.
Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash
The platform may know before your first court date. Screening companies run continuous monitoring on public court records, pending charges in certain categories can deactivate an account before any conviction, and the large platforms share deactivations with each other. When the email comes, it is a legal notice with rights attached: you are entitled to the report and to dispute errors before the decision is final, and reports are wrong more often than people expect. The fix for an accurate report is the case outcome — which is why speed matters when the account is your income.
This week
- Read the policy that actually governs you. Note the deadline.
- If a report is required: one sentence, in writing, keep a copy.
- Do not resign to get ahead of it.
- Do not discuss the case at work.
- Tell your lawyer what you do and who you work for at the first meeting. The right outcome may be different because of it.
Where this connects
- Criminal charges and your career — the tools that protect a job, in detail
- Charged and background checks | Charged and your license
- First-time offender in Memphis | How long a case takes
- What a criminal defense lawyer costs in Memphis
Talk to a Memphis criminal defense lawyer
Say where you work in the first sentence — it changes the plan. Call the office at (901) 324-5000, or call or text the criminal line at 901-412-2973, for a free, confidential consultation.