Ensure hiring personnel understand how the CJS works. The law is complicated and contains many grey areas. However, the basics of whether an offence is “spent” or “unspent”, “filtered”, or involves any ongoing restrictions on activity (including barring) are important matters for a hiring manager to understand. This can be taught through workshops which Offploy and other organisations can provide.

Hiring managers should understand the role being advertised. Does it involve regulated activity? Do they know what that means? This should have been clearly identified in the pre-advertisement role risk-assessment phase and this should have been clearly communicated to the hiring managers if they were not part of the process.

Train hiring managers to understand the difference between spent and unspent convictions and what can and cannot be asked on an application form, a job ad or at interview. This is important to avoid slip ups such as asking “do you have any criminal convictions” if the role is not in regulated activity or requires a Standard or Enhanced DBS check. If you have signed up to “Ban the Box” you do not want to breach that commitment by asking about convictions at the initial stage. See: Ban the Box Employer's Guide - Business in the Community (bitc.org.uk)

Where will the candidate be working? Will they have contact with the public? What are the risks associated with such contact? The location of the workplace, who they will have contact with, and any specific risks should have been considered in the role risk assessment but may need to be reviewed as part of the candidate risk assessment process. Dependant on the conviction and whether a candidate is still on licence, authorities such as Probation and the Police may wish to have an input into your decision. It is not unusual for Probation and/or Police to contact an employer to satisfy themselves that a job does not lead an ex-offender to breach the terms of their licence or any ongoing court restrictions.

Understand the impact on the business, your employees and the candidate. Any decision to hire has to be right for your business, your existing employees and the candidate you are interviewing. If you have built an excellent culture, have got your recruitment processes right, and done an effective risk assessment you will be well placed to hire someone with a conviction who offers the skills and experience that you need. Whilst things may not always be perfect, you should find yourself prepared and with the ability to deal with any issues if you have followed our guide.