I have been working for a major national company since early March. I disclosed my conviction at the time of application via the application form. I was invited for interview and the conviction was never raised with me. I was asked about gaps in my employment history (about 20 months in total) and I answered with the examples given by Unlock and others around how I'd used the time to improve my skills, such as gaining a Level 2 City & Guilds in painting and decorating, a Level 1 in Horticulture and credits towards a Masters Degree with the Open Uni. I was not pressed on any of these answers at interview. I was offered and accepted the job - a junior branch assistant role paying barely more than the minimum wage.

All has been going well until earlier this month an Area Manager visited the store and asked to see me. She was apparently there to carry out a "right to work" audit. On reviewing my file she wanted to know more about a) my name change and b) my conviction and gap in employment history.

I provided full details of the conviction and sentence. She went away with all the information and said she would come back to me. On Friday she came back to the store to see me with no notice, along with another Area Manager. The status of this meeting was an "Investigation Meeting" and was minutes by the other AM. She basically put to me that I had mislead the Branch Manager during my interview by not telling him that the reason for my employment gap was imprisonment. 

I replied that given I had disclosed the fact that I had an unspent conviction on the application form and that the Branch Manager did not raise this during the interview, I reasonably assumed that it was the policy of the company to not follow up details of convictions for the most junior of new starters. I cited other examples of employers who did not ask about convictions at all for junior roles, such as Coop Food.

As a result of Friday's meeting, I have now been suspended without prejudice on full pay. The investigating Area Manager says they will make a decision asap regarding my continued employment with the company. I have been told that fellow employees will not be told about the reason for my absence from work, but workplaces being as they are, I can imagine the gossip going on right now. 

Has anyone else experienced this kind of thing, where an employer knows about a conviction at application stage,  makes no issue of it during the recruitment/induction stage and then several months later starts to make a fuss about it?

That's shite to hear, mate.

My biggest recommendation right now would be to get in touch with ACAS for advice.

https://www.acas.org.uk/

My conviction is spent. I had a name change. I had no requirement to tell anyone. I had been employed by a company for 3.5 years, but was approached by another company and offered a job on more money so I left. A few months into my role all was going well and was reputedly told that I was doing a good job and they were pleased, but someone 'anonymously' got in touch with them about my conviction and they terminated my employment based on this. Within a week, the reason for my dismissal magically changed to termination of my probation due to standard of work (I'm guessing they realised what they had done was illegal). Forgive my rant, but you are not alone... it happens to us all!

How long had you been employed? Had you completed your probationary period?
Had they given you notice of any of the meetings? You have the right to accompanied, and if they had not informed you of this that is a breach.
Are  you a member of a union? If so, contact them. Their point would be that 1. you had disclosed as required. 2. The interviewing manager had the requirement to ask questions at interview if this was a required. 
If you are dismissed - you might be able to find an employment lawyer who offers a free initial consultation. They will let you know you chances of a settlement and might work off a commission. https://solicitors.lawsociety.org.uk/search/results?Pro=False&UmbrellaLegalIssue=LIUEMP&LegalIssue=LIEME&Language=

The sad fact is that they know that they can terminate your contract over this and you are unlikely to make waves as it would put yourself into the limelight. Hopefully they see sense and realise that you are an asset and it is beneficial for them to retain you rather than go through the recruitment process again.

Good luck and keep us updated! I believe all these experiences are a good thing to share.

Thank you!

Yes I will definitely be contacting my union (USDAW) and ACAS as suggested by other contributor. Have also had helpful advice from Unlock and I updated their helpline advisers on Friday. Such a kick in the wotnots. It's a min wage job and I do more to boost the productivity of the place than the kids they employ there. Oh well, much of it is in the company's hands now. Will update. 

I had the second formal Investigation Meeting today. I was accompanied by my area union organiser. In the meeting I was accused of misleading the employer as to the seriousness of the offence. The investigating manager produced a print out from The Law Pages summarising the offences, conviction and sentence for a person that was not me. She claimed it was me due to the "same case reference number". The first part of the case reference number was the same, but the secondary part of the reference was not. 

I've no idea how court case reference numbers are organised, but I asked the manager why she thought it was me when a) the initials of the offender did not match mine (only initials of the offender are listed on these summaries); b) the age of the offender did not match mine; and, c) the sentencing court did not match the documents I had already provided to the employer.
She had the chutzpah to claim that she did not know how old I was! I did ask her if my DOB was recorded in the employee records, which of course it is. I asked her what basic cross-referencing she had undertook to establish whether the search result from The Law Pages was correct and relevant to me. She gave no answer.

The Union Rep is on record in the meeting minutes as calling the process a witch-hunt, with no legitimate objectives. If it is a "right to work" audit, then they should already have decided I DO have the right to work. If they feel that they should have asked me questions about the offences at the time of application and interview, then that is their problem, not mine, surely?

I've been asked to provide "full details of offence(s), conviction and sentencing" to the employer by Wednesday. I've already make the statutory disclosure via the application form, so I am unsure as to what else I can or indeed need to supply to them at this stage.

This is just a farce now.

What do they mean by full details? To me, that would be what is disclosed on a DBS check. You'd be doing very well to get one of those in a week! Even if they asked to see your police record, that would take a month and they would be committing an offence by insisting on it....

As Steadfast said, if they want to get rid of you, then an agreed settlement might be the best way out. I wouldn't expect them to back down now, whatever you say and whatever you can prove. If you do go for a settlement, don't forget to include something about a reference.

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If you are to punish a man retributively you must injure him. If you are to reform him you must improve him. And men are not improved by injuries. (George Bernard Shaw)

Thanks for the further information and advice. I was talking to someone yesterday about such an agreement to leave. I think this is something they would have to propose though?

It is unlikely that they would, as this would be tantamount to them saying that they just want shot of you without due cause. What would need to happen is your Union official (or Employment Lawyer) put the case to them that they are operating in an unjust, unfair or illegal manner. Basically, they get a bit scared by the potential cost of this and the two parties hammer out an agreement.

A couple of questions I have:
1.  you say that you are dealing with the Area Manager - has HR been involved as yet? It seems really odd that HR are allowing an Area Manager to deal with this alone as it is a bit of a minefield for them.
2. Have you made a request for your data yet? If I were you I would be particularly keen to see copies of communications between your line manager, the Area Manager and HR. I would also be asking for copies of appraisals and reviews. I would also be asking for full details regarding what notes have been made on your employment record. You can also ask for copies of policies on employing people with current convictions
3. Did you pass your probationary period? Were any concerns raised?

Feel free not to answer, but do you feel that the issue is not necessarily that you have a conviction, but the type of conviction? You could argue that you are being 'singled out' based on this, and if you had, infact, had a longer sentence for a more serious offence, you would not be in this situation and that those pursuing you are doing it out of emotion rather than policy. You would need to be ridiculously careful on how you word that though!