Equal Opportunities

As an employer committed to the principle of equality of opportunity you may wish to take the following in account when advertising job vacancies and receiving applications from ex-offenders:

• Tell applicants that they do not have to disclose spent convictions (unless the post is exempt).
• Where the job is exempt, ask for disclosure on the application form not at the interview or job offer stage.
• Ignore any spent convictions that an applicant inadvertently discloses (unless the post is exempt).
• Take any relevant unspent convictions into consideration at the short listing or appointment stage. Remember that convictions should not necessarily be a barrier to employment.
• If a post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act you can ask for the disclosure of spent as well as unspent convictions.
• Be absolutely sure that the post is exempt.
• It is against the law to dismiss someone on the basis of a spent conviction.
• You should not automatically dismiss an employee if undisclosed convictions come to light.

Ex-offenders have much to offer employers wanting to recruit staff from a broad base so why not include them in your equal opportunities policy statement? Make it clear that you are committed to your policy and that you will make every effort to ensure that ex-offending staff and applicants are not discriminated against.

More information is available from the following websites:

NACRO – The Crime Reduction Charity – External link: www.nacro.org.uk

Apex trust – External link: www.apextrust.com

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development – information about employing an ex-offender – External link: www.cipd.co.uk/subjects/dvsequl/exoffenders...

A Practical Guide - External link: www.cipd.co.uk/subjects/dvsequl/exoffenders...guide