#How can my son get hired with an arrest on his record?

My son graduated last month with a chemical engineering degree, ready to take the world by storm. Trouble is, he was pulled over for speeding last year and his buddy had a bong in a bag. He was arrested, charged and then the charges were dismissed. The record is now being expunged. Trouble is, all the companies my son is applying to are seeing the charge and won’t hire him. He’s missing the boat and will have an unexplained gap. Any suggestions?

How do you know that companies aren’t hiring your son because of the arrest record? An individual’s arrest record alone cannot be used by an employer to take a negative employment action (not hiring, firing or suspending an applicant or employee). In New York, employers may not even ask about arrests or charges that didn’t result in conviction, unless they are pending. That said, at the offer stage and before the background check, your son may want to volunteer what they will discover and explain the situation. Most employers won’t deny employment to someone just because they were previously arrested when the charges were dropped. The alternative is to take the summer off and wait for the record to be expunged. Then there’s no gap in employment that needs to be explained. There will be jobs for his expertise when he is ready to enter the market

My employer required that we got vaccinated for COVID, so I did, and I got deathly ill. Now I am out on disability. Can I sue my employer?

You can sue anyone for anything — the question is do you have a case? There are many workplace issues related to COVID-19 that are beginning to find their way to the courts, and I suspect that there will be many more. All I can tell you for sure is that under current guidelines and government agencies, your employer has the right to require the vaccine. Whether you can make the case that your illness was related to the vaccine and your employer bears some liability, no one yet knows the answer to that, and we may not know for years as these decisions find their way through the courts

Gregory Giangrande has over 25 years of experience as a chief human resources executive and is dedicated to helping New Yorkers get back to work. E-mail your questions to [email protected]. Follow Greg on Twitter: @greggiangrande and at GoToGreg.com