Did you know that 1 in 5 big companies currently break the law when it comes to the interview process?
The charity Unlock recently surveyed 80 national companies. The survey found that three quarters of companies still ask about criminal convictions at the recruitment stage. 1 in 5 of respondents are even breaking the law. This is because candidates aren’t told how long their criminal records data will be kept for, and why their data is collected in the first place.
11 million people in the UK (1 in 6) have a criminal record. According to the survey, such information requests have a profound effect on these people’s futures. Unlock’s work has seen over 100 major companies stop asking for criminal record data. However, they don’t think this is happening quickly enough.
On the survey, Unlock’s Co-Director, Christopher Stacey, comments:
“These findings are unsurprising – employers are asking about criminal records at application stage as a way of deselecting applicants. We know this approach has a chilling effect on talented applicants with a criminal record, many of whom never apply because they think they don’t stand a chance. In fact, evidence from employers who do recruit people with criminal records shows that they make reliable, hardworking and loyal employees. Employers who are open about their inclusive recruitment practices report a positive impact on their reputation.”
This is such a key area of our professional practice we just can't get this wrong. That's why Employment Law features on our CIPD Human Resource Management Programme at no additional cost. You can find out more about that here.
The question is though, often it is managers that are conducting interviews. I'm wondering....what do you have in place in your organisation to make sure all those involved in the interview process are operating above the law? I'm interested to hear.
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