By Steadfast - 24 Jul 23 1:19 PM
Hello all,
I have been going through a bit of a tough time, so felt that I would add to the positivity of this section.
I am writing this for my own wellbeing/ therapy. Sorry f it drags on but I need somewhere to vent!
About 15 years ago I was arrested, charged and found guilty of an offence. A follow-up conviction followed. It was pretty widely reported, and although I am deeply shamed and sorry for my actions, the convictions and the following media coverage were far from representative. My actions were made to seem magnatudes more horrific than they were. It was a tough time, but thanks to a strong family I managed to get through it and found a job.
I done all the things one should, complied to the letter. People I dealt with from social workers to Police officers from that point were hugely supportive - one police officcers even stated that it was a "waste of their time" coming to see me, but despite enjoying a chat there were better things they could be doing with their time.Work was basic and repetitive to start, but managed to work my way up in the company to something more intresting and representative of my skills. I applied for a middle-managment job elsewhere and got it. I stayed at that organisation for just over a year before being asked to apply for another at a rival employer- I did and got that job.
This is when a few strange things happened. I got called into a meeting with my line manager and HR director (terrifying!), they stated they had been sent information regarding my convictions from an 'anonymous source' and asked if it was true. I stated it was and offered to answer any questions they had. My managers response was "No, it's fine. We are more than pleased with the job you are doing." They went on to state that they had wondered whether they should tell me about this, but decided it was fair to do so. So life continued as normal. There came wholesale change - and as a result after 4 and a bit years my job changed, and my team moved on. I was asked by another company to apply work a job with them - so I did. I got the job.
Furig this time odd things started to happen. One day the police called me to ask if I was OK. It turned out someone had called them to saying I was bout to take my own life - the police were even at my home although I was on holiday. Other malicious things started happening too. The police seemed unintrested and done nothing.
The new job was going OK. I had relationship issues with my line manager, but was working over these. I had went on holiday for a few days, came back to find my probation was being terminated due to my past. Ofcourse, this changed pretty quickly to "performance issues", no doubt when HR thought about the RoOA. Because of my conviction type, the Union were unintrested too.. Moreover, news of my conviction has spread somewhat through the sites of my previous emplyers and my work-based friendship circles. I have literally lost everything I worked hard to rebuild.
So, I have been unemployed for the last few months. My finances are absoluetly shot - I believe I can survive for another couple of months on savings etc. I have debt - it was all easily managable on my previous wage, but not now. I am massively isolated, my mental health is not good. I keep applying for work, but I can't apply for anything with a CR check (almost everything seems care based at the moment), or anything that relies on my previous employer to give a reference - because of the situation. I want to work, but the sutters have totally come down.
Anyway... on a positive note, at least the rain has stopped 
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By Mr W - 12 Sep 23 2:48 PM
+x+xSteadfast - There's a ban the box list that Unlock updates, and a couple of other links that might be helpful: https://unlock.org.uk/advice/ban-the-box-employers (There's a list there that also explains the latest time to disclose too) https://www.ex-seed.co.uk/recommended-companies.htmlhttps://www.personnelchecks.co.uk/latest-news/job-with-a-criminal-recordWith regards to being told to 'go self-employed'... It is advice, but it is a bit of a get out because they know it's not easy to do that. Especially if people don't have the skills that we do. Re: Facebook, I'm on there, police know. As long as there is nothing on your SHPO about social media, your username is registered, there's nothing stopping you being on there. I have to say, I've never used it for self-employed stuff though, it's just all noise and stupid videos now. LinkedIn is probably a better way to go and the police should certainly not have a problem you being on there. Building everything from scratch takes time, you need clients and reviews, I've been at it for a few years now and only have some reviews. I sell my skills, so that's something I'm able to do from home on a computer though. It's not going out and doing garden landscaping for example. It's hard and no quick path to becoming a millionaire but it keeps money coming in *right now* and helps the ever-increasing outgoings. Is it sustainable forever? Probably not / maybe depending on what it is you do, but it means I can fill that gap on my CV since my life blew up. It's also worth mentioning when your mental health takes a kicking, there's no paid time off, which then adds to the stress because if you're not working, you're not earning, and that's just as true without a criminal record. As for 'guaranteed interviews', a course I did earlier this year also 'guaranteed' an interview, a few of us were a bit annoyed that it didn't happen. Plenty of smiling faces, pointing towards job ads, confidence building and help with the CV, but no interview. The people on that course were just 'normal' people, by which I mean no criminal record, just job seekers. So there are people out there struggling too who don't have the barriers we do. The Ban the Box list is actually updated by Business in the Community. You can find their latest list here.
Thanks AB, that's helpful.
I guess the thing to bear in mind is there are still some on that list I would suspect would not accept people with certain types of offences because of what they do (that's not necessarily a criticism of them), but it's definitely a step in the right direction.
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