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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. […]
Samantha contacted Unlock’s helpline for advice on applying for a ‘Through the Gate’ role with Sodexo. The job involved helping women prepare for leaving prison and would be subject to prison vetting. Sodexo has banned the box, so Samantha was surprised to see the application form ask: Have you ever been convicted of any offences […]
The Greek arm of PriceWaterhouseCoopers have been fined €150,000 after an investigation found they were unlawfully relying on employees’ consent to process personal data. PWC claimed to be relying on consent but data was in fact processed to comply with contract obligations. By allowing employees to believe that their data was being processed with their […]
The Key provides tools and services to education leaders. Unlock worked with The Key on their new guidance on asking about criminal records. Following the introduction of the GDPR, The Key took legal advice on how schools should collect criminal records information. As most roles in schools are exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act […]
The John Lewis Partnership (JLP) includes Waitrose and John Lewis. Their online application form asks applicants to indicate whether they have an unspent conviction. The question is compulsory. Selecting ‘Yes’ from the drop-down menu leads to the request for details. The application doesn’t explain why this information is necessary, or what will happen to it. […]
Greggs’ Fresh Start programme has been running since 2012. In that time they say they have employed one hundred people with previous convictions and that 32% are now in some form of management role. The Fresh Start programme recruits people in prison who are eligible to work outside on ROTL, and is also open to […]
Some applications for retail positions in Spar stores ask about criminal records. We contacted Spar to understand why and the Head of HR confirmed: …we do not ask applicants questions regarding Criminal Records and we do not need to (given the nature of our work) undertake DBS checks. It’s refreshing to see a retailer assess […]
Asking applicants to self-disclose criminal records information is seen by most employers as part and parcel of the standard recruitment process. Whether it’s a tick box on the application form or part of pre-employment checks, asking has been the norm. The advent of the GDPR means employers need be clear about the purpose of self-disclosure […]
Last month we published research that showed almost three-quarters of employers ask about criminal records at application stage. Being asked to self-disclose puts off applicants. Unlock encourages employers to consider whether they need to ask about criminal records at all. If you need to ask, questions should be targeted – for example, only asking at […]
Today we have published new guidance to support employers to ensure that their policies and practices on collecting criminal records data during recruitment is compliant with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. The guidance makes it clear that collecting criminal records at the initial application stage is unlikely to be […]