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Since 2018 when UCAS removed questions about criminal records from their application, universities have had to make their own decisions about whether to ask for most courses. For courses leading to regulated professions, UCAS continue to ask. Universities collect further information about spent and unspent criminal records and conduct their own assessments – often called […]
Earlier this year Alex registered with Transport for London’s National Apprenticeship Fair, hoping for the chance to meet with 15 employers offering vacancies across London. She was surprised to be asked about unspent convictions for a recruitment fair, but ticked the box and looked for the privacy policy to understand how it would be used. […]
In 2018 research by Unlock found that 70% of well-known national employers asked about criminal records on application. Three years on, with increased understanding of data protection, the GDPR and inclusive recruitment, we reviewed those employers to see what, if anything had changed. Key findings in 2018 The 2018 findings were disappointing, though perhaps not […]
“How do you deal with applicants with a criminal record?” That’s a common question we ask of employers. The answer varies; sometimes, they’re quite proactive; other times, they don’t really know. Often, we’re pointed to their ‘policy’. Great, you might think. Unfortunately, a significant proportion of employers with a policy in place have simply copied […]
Asking the right question If you carry out standard or enhanced DBS checks you’ll know that the rules on what can be filtered have recently changed. Filtering is the process by which some cautions and convictions are removed – ‘filtered’ – from DBS certificates, according to rules set by Parliament. Reprimands, final warnings and youth cautions are now immediately filtered. […]
If you recruit for jobs that are exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act you will be familiar with filtering. Since May 2013, some cautions and convictions are automatically ‘filtered’ from standard and enhanced DBS certificates and job applicants are legally entitled to withhold filtered cautions and convictions from employers. The existing rules apply to […]
Delivering everything from social care, housing and planning and waste collection, to licensing, registrar services and pest control, local authorities need to recruit for vast and varied needs. With 343 local authorities in England and 22 in Wales the sector provides employment for more than 2 million people. Every employer wants to recruit the best […]
Unlock have written to HM Treasury to suggest financial incentives and ban the box are included in the upcoming Comprehensive Spending Review. A Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) is the process of setting spending priorities and defining improvements the public can expect over the next few years. The CSR 2020 will set out the government’s spending […]
Unlock, a national advocacy charity for people with criminal records, has today published Checked out?, a report on so-called ‘ineligible’ criminal record checks, submitted by employers and processed by the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 allows some criminal records to become spent after a crime-free period. This means they […]
As we face an uncertain future we need all hands on deck to rebuild the economy. Unlock is calling on government to pilot financial incentives for employers who proactively recruit people with convictions. Many businesses are fearful of hiring people with a criminal record. Long-standing – but inaccurate – beliefs about reliability and risk mean […]