Examples of bad practice by employers
We were recently pointed towards a large cleaning company that had a question on its application form for a job cleaning commercial offices which stated: “Criminal Record o Yes o No” The question didn’t make it clear that an applicant doesn’t need to disclose any spent convictions when applying for a role covered by the […]
We’ve recently been contacted by an individual who wanted some advice following dismissal from his job because he didn’t disclose his unspent criminal record. The individual explained that on release from prison, over 15 years ago, he’d been told by his probation officer that his conviction would become ‘spent’ (under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act […]
We’ve recently worked on a case where a university had stated in a job description for a Lecturer in Criminology that: “The successful applicant will have to undergo a DBS check before an appointment can be made.” Although the job description didn’t specify what level of check, the university confirmed that they would be carrying […]
We’ve recently been advising a large motor manufacturer who was asking a misleading question on their online apprenticeship application form. It stated: “Have you any convictions, including both spent and unspent convictions under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (ROA) 1974? If yes, please provide details.” We believed that the apprenticeship role being offered would be […]
We were contacted by an individual who was concerned that a question on an employer’s application form in respect of a job requiring an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service checks was misleading as it did not provide any guidance around ‘protected’ cautions and convictions. The question on the application form stated: “Criminal Convictions (see guidance […]
We’ve recently been involved in a case where a training provider offering vocational and online courses to apprentices was requesting an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check for an individual being employed as an account manager. The primary role of the account manager was to liaise with the training company’s current partners and to […]
We’ve recently worked on a case where a university had stated in a job description for a ‘Lecturer in Criminology’ role that: “The successful applicant will have to undergo a DBS check before an appointment can be made.” Unfortunately, it didn’t specify what level of check. When we asked, they said that they’d be carrying […]
We’ve recently been involved in a case where a student’s union was considering taking disciplinary action against one of its new trustees for failing to disclose their conviction. The trustee concerned had an unspent conviction at the time of their election to the board. After extensive research she had satisfied herself that her offence would […]
We’ve recently been involved in a case where a local council has, by their own admission, carried out an ineligible enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check which has resulted in an individual being considered for inclusion on the adult and children’s barred lists. The individual concerned had been working for the council for many years […]
We’ve recently been involved in a case where a refrigeration/air-conditioning company were looking to carry out enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service checks on all their service engineers irrespective of where they would be working. The company concerned had just bought out another company and had taken on several new contracts. They had transferred over existing […]