Study: Stop firms asking for applicants’ convictions
ASKING potential employees to declare criminal convictions on job application forms should be banned, new research claims.
A study found criminal record declarations do little to predict the risk of re-offending and can put candidates off applying.
Carried out for Virgin Trains and the charity Business in the Community, the study wants companies to find more supportive ways to discuss potential recruits’ criminal backgrounds.
The Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice (SCCJ) paper highlighted that, in some cases, people who had never been convicted of a crime might pose a greater risk than those with a criminal record.
Release Scotland, a network of public, private and third sector organisations committed to giving people with convictions opportunities to find work, backed the findings
Liz Cameron OBE, Director and Chief Executive of Scottish Chambers of Commerce, said: “This research demonstrates that asking for disclosure during the initial application stage actively reduces the talent pool for recruiters to choose from, while providing little to no insight into how likely a reoffend.
“At a time of stubborn skills shortages in many sectors, businesses should reassess their recruitment practices and consider banning the box where feasible and extend the talent pool available to them.”
On average, the time between someone committing a crime and being at no more risk of re-offending than someone who had not committed a crime was between seven and 10 years, the study by criminology expert and Associate Director of SCCJ, Dr Beth Weaver concluded.
However, this varied, based on age, gender and type of crime. candidate is to
While some offending backgrounds would make potential employees unsuitable for certain roles, there was evidence that many candidates are either put off or dismissed out of hand by employers on declaration of a criminal record, despite there being little evidence that this would present a significant risk of re-offending.
Dr Weaver said: “Around 38 per cent of men and nine per cent of women in Scotland have at least one criminal conviction, so this issue affects a large number of people.
“Giving people a chance to work can improve outcomes for people and contribute to a safer and more just society.”
Virgin Trains has been proactively recruiting people with convictions for five years and has banned the criminal record declaration form on job application forms.
Kathryn Wildman, Virgin’s Talent Acquisition Manager, said: “Rather than ask people to tick a box on application, we’ll have a conversation at interview stage in which we talk about their offences and where they are on the rehabilitation journey.
“And our experience is that we’ve identified some fantastic people with convictions who have gone on to perform really well for us and helped our business grow.”