3. Risk management
Training to understand spent convictions and what to do in the event of over disclosure
Equip your recruitment team with knowledge on spent convictions and the ability to responsibly handle instances of over-disclosure, enabling access to a wider range of candidates while saving time on unnecessary risk assessment procedures.
What does success look like?
Enhanced understanding of spent/unspent convictions among recruitment team members
Ability to handle over-disclosure responsibly
More efficient risk assessment procedures.
How would Offploy do it?
Be open to candidates with convictions. Most are keen to prove that they can be valued members of your team. Judging each candidate on a case-by-case basis is the best way to ensure that you are fair and open. Blanket bans on offence types (unless absolutely necessary) is not the recommended way to go.
Train the recruitment team to be fair, non-prejudiced and unbiased, displaying a professional approach despite their own private beliefs. Disclosing a past conviction is often traumatic and embarrassing for a candidate. If your team are trained and experienced in asking the right questions and taking a disclosure professionally and sympathetically, it will go a long way to ensure that your potential employee starts with a positive impression of your company and their future with you.
Know what is meant by spent and unspent and what can and cannot be asked. See our guide on understanding if a conviction is spent.
You are determining whether they would add value your organisation given any risk that may be involved. You will have already risk assessed the role and considered whether it involves regulated activity, you should therefore be able to consider a candidate’s suitability and how you might address any specific risk arising from their disclosure to you.
Examples in Practice
Offploy offers one-day Disclosure Workshops which include how to work out when an offence is spent, as well as a range of free and paid-for online webinars and workshops to upskill your staff.
Contact Rik@offploy.org for more details.
Nothing to see here... yet.
We're still putting the finishing touches on our new Employing With Conviction Guide.