Has there been an increase in the number of criminal records checks for engineers in recent years? Factor out jobs which require working with children or vulnerable adults, or those requiring certain types of security clearance.
If you are / were a manager then would you be happy to employ an engineer who had previously served a prison sentence and their conviction is unspent under ROA 1974? Should convictions, for the purposes of employment, only include custodial sentences or should all applicants be forced to declare non-custodial sentences such as police cautions or fines issued by magistrates courts. It's actually quite common for job applicants to say that they don't have any convictions because they have never gone to jail then lose the job because they 'lied' on the application form by failing to disclose a magistrates court fine or police caution from 20 years ago. Should old and minor offences - like trying to defraud a vending machine with washers or shoplifting in the 1980s both as a teenager - have to be declared or should an employer have no right to know about these? If you had employed an engineer then two years down the line found out that they had lied on their application form about convictions then would you systematically dismiss them on the basis that they are a liar and dishonest even if the conviction is minor or has no relevance to the job? Would you also sue them under the Fraud Act for fraud by false representation?
If you are / were a manager then would you be happy to employ an engineer who had previously served a prison sentence and their conviction is unspent under ROA 1974? Should convictions, for the purposes of employment, only include custodial sentences or should all applicants be forced to declare non-custodial sentences such as police cautions or fines issued by magistrates courts. It's actually quite common for job applicants to say that they don't have any convictions because they have never gone to jail then lose the job because they 'lied' on the application form by failing to disclose a magistrates court fine or police caution from 20 years ago. Should old and minor offences - like trying to defraud a vending machine with washers or shoplifting in the 1980s both as a teenager - have to be declared or should an employer have no right to know about these? If you had employed an engineer then two years down the line found out that they had lied on their application form about convictions then would you systematically dismiss them on the basis that they are a liar and dishonest even if the conviction is minor or has no relevance to the job? Would you also sue them under the Fraud Act for fraud by false representation?
