There are currently 7.3 million people in England and Wales on the Home Office Offenders Index, the official register of all those with criminal convictions.
One in three men and almost one in ten women born in 1953 has been convicted of an offence before the age of 46.
Generally employers will want to know as much as possible about an individual before they recruit them to ensure that they are suitable for the job including whether the person has a criminal record, especially if it involves dishonesty or violence. It is not uncommon for an employer to ask within their application form whether an individual has a criminal record, although this may not be an effective way of obtaining such information as a prospective employee may not wish to voluntarily disclose this.
Unless the employer has expressly asked for information on past convictions, no action can be taken against an employee for failure to disclose convictions that are not spent. It should be remembered that information on criminal convictions should only be sought if it is relevant to the job being filled. Some employers believe that it is easy to carry out a criminal records check on a prospective or current employee. However, a criminal records check is only available in limited circumstances.
This white paper looks in detail at criminal records and prosepective employees: what do you need to know (and what can you actually find out) when hiring a new employee?
To download this white paper, click on the PDF icon at the top right of this page»
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