CRB Disclosure

[smileyculture]

Just been asked this question. Person goes for interview in a school. Not asked if they have a criminal record. Taken on, then person fills in Enhanced CRB form and ticks the yes box as having a criminal record. Carries on working for 8 weeks, then dismissed for not disclosing CR. Never asked. Believes complied with law and offence, not on serious offences register which automatically bars a person in a school. Do they have a case for wrongful dismissal or discrimination?

[bluebottle]

Re: CRB Disclosure

Just been asked this question. Person goes for interview in a school. Not asked if they have a criminal record. Taken on, then person fills in Enhanced CRB form and ticks the yes box as having a criminal record. Carries on working for 8 weeks, then dismissed for not disclosing CR. Never asked. Believes complied with law and offence, not on serious offences register which automatically bars a person in a school. Do they have a case for wrongful dismissal or discrimination?

Any idea what the offence was and how long ago?

[smileyculture]

Re: CRB Disclosure

Handling stolen goods, 14 years ago, no convictions before or after.

[smileyculture]

Re: CRB Disclosure

Added to this question, Is there any guidelines legally which apply to disclosing a CR. If you are never asked ,do you have to disclose anyway, even if you tick the yes box on a CRB but still not asked directly..

[charitynjw]

Re: CRB Disclosure

How was this person dismissed?

[bluebottle]

Re: CRB Disclosure

What was the sentence handed down by the court, SC? That is the most important factor.

[labman]

Re: CRB Disclosure

SC - Is this the same issue as you refer to in this thread?

http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...851#post360851

If so, please could you let us know and we'll arrange to get the two threads merged, rather than having two threads running on one issue? It will get confused otherwise. Thanks. :beagle:

[smileyculture]

Re: CRB Disclosure

No, not the same thread. This is more personal as things progressing on legally and taking some interesting turns. What I am learning all the time, is some legal matters are not so clear cut. The sentence was 2 years 9 months, which means its never spent, but it was declared on the CRB. The legal point is, if you are not asked, you have no obligation to say anything more. When the box was ticked for "yes" whilst filling in the form, I was asked by the secretary and told her. She then stated, not to worry as long as it does not come up on the serious list, which was being done there and then, there should not be a problem. Whilst working, if asked I talked about the offence as people love to ask what prison is like but don't really listen to the technical issues of the offence. I have it in writing that I was never asked at interview or after and that I did tick the correct box of "yes". There are other issues regarding "safeguarding "which are being looked into as a separate issue, from a legal stand point. This coming week should be interesting as a meeting with a big organisation is arranged. So, back to the question, what is the legal obligation to disclose, if asked or not.

[wales01man]

Re: CRB Disclosure

I have to say,if you have been convicted and served a sentence in prison for a crime I would expect that in all honesty you should tell employers who can make a decision to employ you or not,i firmly believe in being straight with people not disclosing something can come back to haunt you.I would not hesitate to employ someone with a record if they were upfront with the exception of some offences everone has a past good or bad we cant change that,

[labman]

Re: CRB Disclosure

Have you got your letter of dismissal? Could you have a look and post up the exact reason given for dismissing you please?

The issue seems more to me about their right to dismiss you, and as working with children is exempt under the act, they would, I believe, be perfectly entitled to dismiss you. In schools, jobs are normally offered subject to certain formalities being completed. What would be interesting to ascertain is if the reason given is accurate or not.

[bluebottle]

Re: CRB Disclosure

With the exception of those applying for posts that involves them working with children and vulnerable adults (including elders), the legislation that introduced the CRB has, sadly, been abused and misinterpreted by employers, resulting in what was designed as legislation to protect the most vulnerable members of society being used to discriminate against those who made a stupid mistake in their past and are still being made to pay for that mistake long after they have served the punishment society meted out to them at the time. The legislation needs revisiting and revising, if only to prevent instances as the OP has highlighted.

[charitynjw]

Re: CRB Disclosure

To make a general point, there is no legislation or case law which says that an employer has to employ someone.

There only exists the right not to be wrongfully or unfairly dismissed.

& that is not 'unfair' as in a moral sense, but that the dismissal is a legitimate option open to the employer.

[labman]

Re: CRB Disclosure

To be fair, this was for a post in a school, so not really an abuse of the legislation.

[bluebottle]

Re: CRB Disclosure

To be fair, this was for a post in a school, so not really an abuse of the legislation.

Which is why I started my post in the manner I did. However, experience has shown that there are, as always, those who will abuse, ignore or "misinterpret" legislation, regardless of what the legislation is intended to deal with.

[smileyculture]

Re: CRB Disclosure

Some really good points have been made and in my view, very open minded. I cannot go to deep into this as still on going and more information coming out all the time. What has really got to me, is the misuse of the rehabilitation act. When an offence that has no bearing on the safeguarding of children is used to imply that a person is unsuitable to work with children, this to me is totally wrong. I fully agree that disclosure of an offence is the best course but I also believe that you should only be forthcoming when asked directly. At the interview, the subject was never asked and in all honesty, the last thing on my mind as so long past, did not see the relevance after. When I ticked the yes box, I told the secretary as already stated, when asked about it then, told her details as nothing to hide. Over the coming months spoke to all senior members of staff about it and a number of staff who asked. Added to this, that a number already knew before I started work, as they were family friends. The reason given for the dismissal was a long time coming and it stated that the offence was different from what I had stated. This then raises questions as to who is telling the truth. If I did not disclose it, how could I then tell them something different? The answer lies in another added offence that did not appear on the CRB. As I stated in an earlier post, people like to listen to stories of prison life but don't really listen to details of the offence. I told numerous staff the full details but I doubt anyone fully understood anything of what I was telling them. All I know is that I was excellent at my job and made a big difference, my offence had no bearing on my position or my work. I am a self litigant who has started to fight for my rights and others and can honestly say its been an eye opener and rewarding so far.