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?