Concealing a caution
Question
I was a bit of an idiot and ended up with a formal adult caution after a run-in with the police. Will employers be able to check for this?
Answer
Formal cautions, reprimands and warnings are not criminal convictions and therefore are not covered, in England and Wales, by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. This means you don't have to disclose them to most future employers but you should answer honestly if you're asked, for example, in an interview if you've ever been in trouble with the police or have a record.
Since December 1995, records of formal cautions for recordable offences, that is, offences for which you could be imprisoned, are held on the Police National Computer (PNC). Guidance states that such records should be deleted after five years but they are not automatically deleted, it depends on the police force. If the caution were for a sexual offence then this would appear on the national sex offenders' register. If want to know if the caution is still on record you can find out by filling in a subject access form.
Certain jobs such as teaching or other positions where you may work with children or vulnerable adults will require a check with Criminal Records Bureau (CRB). There are two types of CRB checks: standard and enhanced. A standard check discloses spent convictions, unspent convictions, cautions and warnings and an enhanced check will also include other relevant information held locally by the police.
Therefore, whether your employer can check for it comes down to: who you are working for; the police force that gave you the caution and what offence the caution relates to. You don't have to declare it for standard employment but employers that run CRB checks will see it until the police decide to remove it.
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Question answered by CAB
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