Driving offences and application forms

[DC_FC]

When asked following question on application forms, should i answer yes as i have been given a fine for speeding ?

Subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act, have you ever had any civil, criminal or military convictions or been formally cautioned or warned by the police?

[Count-A-Strong]

Application for.....?

[DC_FC]

sorry, the job is for maplin, just a normal store job and no driving involved

[New Judge]

Was it a conviction by a court or was it a fixed penalty? And how long ago was it?

[Buenchico]

As New Judge indicates, there's a difference between receiving a fixed penalty (which does not create a conviction) or being fined in court (which does). As long as you received a fixed penalty, you can answer 'No'.

Chris

[New Judge]

And for the purposes of the question asked by your prospective employers, unless it says “except motoring offences” convictions for motoring offences are classed as criminal convictions. There is no difference in such classification between speeding (maximum penalty £1,000 fine or £2,500 if on a motorway) and causing death by dangerous driving (maximum penalty 14 years custody). They are both motoring offences and they both result in criminal convictions.

[DC_FC]

it was a conviction by court done in my absence, it was this year so recent

[Buenchico]

If it was a conviction by a court, you're required to declare it.

The conviction will become 'spent' (except when applying for jobs in certain sectors, such as working with children or vulnerable adults) after 5 years. The only exceptions to that would be if you were under 18 at the time of the conviction (in which case the 'rehabilitation period' would be 2½ years) or if you were convicted of another offence in the intervening period. (No offence can become spent while the offender still has other unspent convictions).

Since the job doesn't involve driving, it will almost certainly have no affect upon your employment application.

Chris

[DC_FC]

I dont have a problem with declaring it, the problem was i wasnt sure whether the following question was refering to speeding fines, didnt want to answer no when it should be a yes

Subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act, have you ever had any civil, criminal or military convictions or been formally cautioned or warned by the police?

[Buenchico]

As has been indicated above, all driving offences are criminal matters. If they're dealt with by a court (rather than by a fixed penalty), the driver has a conviction for a criminal offence.

[DC_FC]

thanks Buenchico, just wanted to be sure