Recruitment of those with criminal records

Background

It is estimated that one-fifth of the working population has a criminal record. Getting a job is an essential part of rehabilitation for offenders and failure to obtain employment is a major contributing factor to re-offending. People with a criminal record are often unsure about disclosing this information when seeking employment. They know that not declaring unspent convictions will break the trust of an employer if it is discovered at a later date. This dilemma can be addressed by encouraging disclosure and through fair employment practice.

Spent and unspent convictions

The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 introduced the concept of a spent conviction for a criminal offence. Convictions exclude cautions, reprimands, or final warnings issued by the police. A conviction cannot be spent if it carried a custodial sentence of two-and-a-half years or more. Lesser sentences have rehabilitation periods attached to them, and once this period has expired the conviction is regarded as spent (provided no further convictions occur within the rehabilitation period).
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University policy on disclosure of unspent criminal convictions

It is a university requirement that all applicants should be requested to disclose any unspent criminal convictions as part of the recruitment and selection process, and the pro forma application forms in CoreHR include this request. Applicants are advised that information about unspent criminal convictions will be held on a strictly confidential basis, in compliance with Data Protection requirements, and only discussed with the selection panel where it is felt relevant to the post for which they have applied. The recruitment administrator should consider the following guidance before deciding whether it is appropriate to divulge the nature of the offence to the selection panel. Where it is appropriate to advise the panel of the details of candidate’s criminal record, the panel should be provided with a copy of this guidance together with details of the offences.
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Consideration of individuals with criminal records

Wherever an individual declares a criminal record it is important to proceed with care. Possession of a criminal record does not automatically make an applicant unsuitable for employment with the University. Considering employing a person with a criminal record means considering the applicant’s skills, experience, sentence, and offence against the job requirements and identifying and evaluating potential areas of risk. A number of factors need to be taken into account, including the following:

The fact that it is illegal to employ certain offenders in some occupations such as those working with children or vulnerable adults
The nature of the crime, i.e. it is unlikely that someone convicted of a motoring offence would be employed as a driver
 The seriousness of the offence and its relevance to the safety of others, e.g. staff, students, members of the public or property
When the offence occurred (both in terms of the age of the individual at the date of the offence and how long ago the offence occurred), its nature, and the circumstances
Any explanation given by the individual as to the circumstances surrounding the offence
The sentence and whether there are any patterns of re-offending; note that the longer the sentence the more seriously the courts would have been likely to view the offence
The requirements of the post, i.e. if there is responsibility for money, items of value, and/or access to sensitive information; what might happen; how serious would it be; and what would increase or decrease the risk
Whether the post offers realistic opportunities to re-offend and what safeguards are in place
What level and closeness of supervision may be required in the early stages of employment

It may help to consider the availability of assessments and reports from agencies involved in rehabilitation.

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Rehabilitation periods

Custodial sentences of more than two-and-a half years can never be spent and all applicants for university posts are asked to make a full declaration of any such convictions.

The following sentences become spent after the fixed rehabilitation period, which begins on the date of conviction:

Type of offence

Rehabilitation period in years

Category of offender

People aged 18 or over when convicted

People aged 17 or under when convicted

Prison sentences of 6 months or less

7 years

3½ years

Prison sentences of more than 6 months and up to 2½ years

10 years

5 years

Fine, probation, compensation, community service, combination action plan, curfew orders, drug treatment and testing, reparation orders

5 years

2½ years

Absolute discharge

6 months

6 months
Source:    Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974
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Road traffic offences

It should be noted that, where a disclosure application is made to an external agency such as the CRB or Disclosure Scotland, the disclosure will include road traffic offences that have been recorded on the Police National Computer since 1993 and on the Criminal History System since 2001.  However, offences will only be disclosed where they have resulted in a conviction, and not where they have been dealt with by payment of a fixed penalty fine.
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Handling and retention of disclosure information

Information about criminal records (CRB disclosures, self-disclosures, or other vetting disclosures) should only be held by managers who have been nominated to this role by a head of department, or equivalent. To comply with legal obligations, the files must be kept securely in a lockable, non-portable storage container with strictly controlled access. Disclosure information should only be used for the specific purpose for which it was requested. For successful candidates, the information should be kept securely (as above), and should not normally be kept with standard personnel records if such records can be accessed by other staff.

Disclosed information should be kept for a further six months beyond the duration of employment.

For unsuccessful candidates such information should be kept for six months in line with all other recruitment paperwork.

Once the retention period has elapsed, in line with all personal information, disclosure information must be destroyed by secure means (such as shredding or burning).

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