Going for Jobs, whats the standard for criminal record questions on the application forms

[kindguy]

hello

I was arrest a short while back for growing my own herb at home, From what I remember when going for a job it only asks you on the sheet if you have been to prision or have you spent this much time or some thing along these lines, what I would like to know is will I be able to go for jobs and not have to worry about declairing my rathter small offence, whats the standard or legal stance on this for these sheets.

[Octavius]

If a court finds you guilty of committing an offence you will be given a criminal record. This is a file kept on the Police National Computer about you.

A criminal record shows the following details:

  the date you were convicted 
  the court the case was heard in 
  the offence you were prosecuted for 
  the punishment given. 

Although the record will remain on the police's computer for ever, the police will stop taking most crimes into account after a certain period of time. The length of time depends on how serious the crime was.

All employers have the right to know by law if you have a criminal record. They can check with the Criminal Records Office to see if you have a record before they employ you.


You may be turned down for certain jobs, particularly those which involve working with children. You may be refused a travel visa to enter other countries, be unable to get a car or home insurance, or have to pay more for it.

In your case, if you were not convicted of the offence, you do not need to declare it, however if you were then I would suggest you declare it as it does appear to be a minor offence.  It would depend on the job and the employer how relevant it is as to whether this is taken into consideration. 

[willow74]

Basically an 'unspent' conviction stays on your records from 5 yrs of the date of conviction (court date).  If the sentence was 'spent' in custody then it will stay on your record for 7 yrs after release.  (i dont think it ever goes away but you don't have to declare it after the 5 or 7 yrs)

If you got a caution then its not a conviction.  If you got a community service order or above then your gonna have to declare it.  Places like post office, working with kids etc will be checked. Smaller companies won't check...

[banjo]

Most application forms will ask if you have a criminal conviction and you tick yes or no, and give details if its a 'yes'.  Its in your best interests to declare a conviction as they may be able to sack you if they give you the job and then find out you lied to them in order to get the job. 

In the UK, for jobs where you'll be working with kids etc you'd be required to have a CRB (Criminal Records Bureau) Disclosure done which will provide the employer with details of any previous convictions.  As far as I'm aware, they can only do this with your consent because of the Data Protection Act etc.

If you haven't actually been convicted of anything as yet, then you could write that down as its technically the truth, though if you will be going to court at some point in the future you'd eventually have to let the employer know anyway.