theForum » Disclosing your criminal record » What, when and how to disclose » Spent Convictions

Spent Convictions

GaryTS — Sun, 07 Oct 2018 18:35:54 GMT

Evening All

I hope you are all well.

Clarification please on two points.
Once convictions are spent (according to the date of the online calculator from this website.)

Will they simply just drop off on the date stated?

Are there any catches like any sort of lapse periods or anything?

So for example if my convictions are due to be spent on 2nd October 2018

Could i go online order a copy of my DBS certificate on the 3rd of October and because my convictions were spent the day before they would not show up on the DBS correct?

Also

If a application form says
"Do you have any criminal convictions?"

It does not specifically state whether they are talking about SPENT or UNSPENT
neither does it mention anything about being exempt from the ROA

once my convictions are spent i assume i can legally tick NO?

however, if the check comes back as a standard DBS and they see convictions and refuse me the job (or sack me) stating that i lied on the application form, could the company potentially face a claim against them?

many thanks

Neo

RE: Spent Convictions

GaryTS — Sun, 07 Oct 2018 18:35:54 GMT

[quote]

[b]AB2014 - 1 Oct 18 11:29 AM[/b]

[quote]

[b]GaryTS - 1 Oct 18 10:58 AM[/b]

Hey Thanks for your post and clsryifjng my points.I really appreciate that.Something I couldn’t clarify from your post was the following If a job was advertised and I ticked NO on the application form to having convictions that are SPENT and they did not ask me to disclose spent convictions under the ROA.If they subsequently run a standard check and see the SPENT convictions on there which they will and then dismiss me for lying or dishonesty even though I didn’t need to disclose SPENT convictions could I have a claim against the employer?Thanks

[/quote]

The disclosure question should be based on the level of check being done, which is the first clue. They can't just decide what level of check they want to do if it's a higher level than they are allowed. If you don't disclose something that they have a right to see, they may well withdraw the job offer or terminate the employment. If they do a higher level of check than they are allowed, you can challenge it with the DBS before it is issued, or after the certificate is issued, you can argue that they are not entitled to the information and have broken data protection law. The first way is probably better.

[/quote]

Hi AB

Thanks for that information. I will bare that in mind.

Regards

RE: Spent Convictions

AB2014 — Mon, 01 Oct 2018 11:29:16 GMT

[quote]

[b]GaryTS - 1 Oct 18 10:58 AM[/b]

[/quote]

RE: Spent Convictions

GaryTS — Mon, 01 Oct 2018 10:58:03 GMT

Hey Thanks for your post and clsryifjng my points. I really appreciate that. Something I couldn’t clarify from your post was the following If a job was advertised and I ticked NO on the application form to having convictions that are SPENT and they did not ask me to disclose spent convictions under the ROA. If they subsequently run a standard check and see the SPENT convictions on there which they will and then dismiss me for lying or dishonesty even though I didn’t need to disclose SPENT convictions could I have a claim against the employer? Thanks

RE: Spent Convictions

AB2014 — Mon, 01 Oct 2018 10:36:25 GMT

[quote]

[b]GaryTS - 30 Sep 18 8:47 PM[/b]

[/quote]

First of all, once a conviction becomes spent, it will no longer be disclosed on a basic DBS check. The process is that when a check is done after that date, the DBS computer works out that it doesn't have to disclose it and so it isn't disclosed. If you do a check on yourself on the day after your conviction becomes spent, it should come back with nothing to disclose. There is no lapse period or anything else. The only thing that could interfere would be if you got another conviction while you were waiting for the first conviction to become spent, as neither would become spent until both reached their rehabilitation date.

When it comes to disclosure, the level of check depends on the content of the job, so you should have a reasonable idea of which check will be done. If you don't, then Unlock has some useful information here. Any disclosure question can be interpreted as "what are we going to see on your check?", so you can answer accordingly. If the job has a basic DBS check, then once your conviction is spent you can answer no. If the job is eligible for a standard or enhanced DBS check, most employers are professional enough to phrase the question properly, but not all are. If you don't disclose something they then see on an eligible check, they would probably see it as dishonesty. If they did a standard or enhanced DBS check for a job that wasn't eligible, you can challenge the check before it is actually run, and the DBS will investigate. Any information they see that they don't have a right to see is technically a breach of data protection law, and if there are any repercussions for you, then the Information Commissioner's Office would be interested in hearing from you.