im not tooooo sure but i reckon it varies depending on the profession ur goin for…i cant see them delving into 10 years ago for a mcdonalds job, whereas it would be different for a government official…hehe just logic there though, nothin to back it up, id look into it if i were you ^.^

Na shouldn’t do, I’ve got a couple off cautions a few years back and got arrested and let off for something, But got clearance to work in as a contractor in a prison. They said if i had anything on it i wouldn’t be allowed. Its only if you’ve been charged i think.

depends on the job and whether the cops properly do the paperwork when they caution you (sometimes they don’t actually update PNC correctly!)

However Enhanced CRB disclosures show everything for some people including cautions etc, but they are not normally requested except for healthcare jobs or other jobs globaloon mentions in the next post (fair enough really) and some high flying finance jobs

Even so some employers will give you a chance if you were honest about it and an ancient caution is the only bad point for an otherwise good candidate

where I work they would employ someone who got cautioned once or twice a few years back for small posession of drugs (otherwise I wouldn’t have my job! :groucho:) but not for crimes of dishonesty or violence..

an arrest and release without charge wouldn’t count against you unless you were applying for a job in somewhere that uses Developed Vetting (the highest security clearance) like in the Security Service (MI5) / GCHQ or similar places..

standard checks only show up convictions

enhanced checks are required for a wide range of jobs… anything working with under 19s, anything where you work one-to-one with vulnerable people or have access to vulnerable people’s private information… even agency cleaning jobs for people with disabilities or old people. enhanced checks should show everything including cautions and spent convictions.

however, if your convictions / cautions are spent under the rehabilitation of offenders act and you have been honest on your application, then an employer cannot refuse to employ you or they are breaking the law

Fuck da police! :crazy:

I hope that helps…

ha!

lots of reliable in depth advice to be found here…

http://www.nacro.org.uk/publications/adviceleaflets.htm

I think the CRB rules may have changed recently, allowing more professions to have access to Enhanced Disclosure – I think the financial services can now request it it more cases.

Can’t see how this could be proven unless an employer refuses someone outright “just because they have a criminal record” which is daft anyway for many of the reasons Nacro suggests) – I expect its the same as the problems with racial/gender discrimination which still plague recruitment to this day.

Most job applicants do not have access to details of the others they are competing against, all a prospective employer would have to claim is that “we have found no suitable candidates”, some employers are even stubborn enough to leave a vacancy unfilled for many months and push the work onto others in the organisation) as they are that “determined to discriminate”…

This is an official Govt publication aimed at careers advisers, which shows the level of scrutiny applicants for various jobs/professions are subjected to (updated as of 2001)

http://www.connexions.gov.uk/partnerships/IcantdothatcanI/cover.htm

In some areas of work where enhanced CRB is carried out, some things, drugs and even some scrapping can be seen as an advantage by a forward thinking employer, as providing you have pretty much left them in the past, they can count as life experience which is very valuable when working in certain jobs. These convictions etc can even be discussed with clients as self disclosure can be a very effective tool if used correctly.

its certainly possible people here may be looking at careers in at least the first two categories… what has happened (and it has changed comparatively recently and even some of the Nacro stuff is slightly outdated) is that all these “exempt from rehabilitation” occupations have been permitted to obtain Enhanced CRB declarations from some or all of their staff..

I think we may be mixing two issues – the legalities of who can and can’t get an Enhanced CRB (from a legal point of view), and the overall attitude of some employers across all sectors towards ex-offenders. I think my employers have the same policy regarding spent convictions…

For companies who are required to get CRB clearance, its a lot of admin time and expense so not worth doing unless you are going to at least give the person a chance anyway – so ironically the extra legislation may have made things fairer in some respects.

OTOH a lot of “normal” private sector jobs don’t do any sort of overtly formal background check other than the application form, but the more high flying ones have “ways of finding these things out” using the “private security industry” (some of these methods more legal than others)[1]- its also been known for HR departments to search local media and other sources, and for colleagues (actual or prospective) or even rivals to “pass on” info such as newspaper clippings (or internet news reports) of criminal activity (even if it occured in a different area), especially in organisations with a lot of competition/office politics.

with so many minor/petty things people can get done for these days (particularly small time drugs posession) I think many prospective employers are more lenient nowadays…

its definitely a matter of honesty/integrity though. its easier to “forgive” someone who has admitted fully and honestly to their past than for an employer to find out later that they lied – they’ll obviously think “what else is he/she hiding from us?”

Also I think a lot of people use the “can’t get a job as I’ve been done” as a way of “self-justifying” further crime..

[1] including corrupt Police officers (and even over-zealous Specials who work in the same company!) leaking info from PNC and other sources..