Background checks - what do employers actually get told?

[C J 1980]

Good afternoon

I'm presently in my 16th month of a 21 month driving ban.

I'm just looking at applying for a new job as my present role came to an end with it being a fixed term contract.

Obviously, when applying for new jobs you have to declare DD as a unspent conviction for five years from the date of conviction.

I've seen a job that involves travelling to another town & if I was fortunate to get an interview I'd rather keep the fact I'm still off the road to myself if possible as it may go against me.

I've done my homework & even if I had a July/August start date I would simply have 4, maybe 5 months of using public transport & acquiring lifts which I can put up with. However, I don't want to do myself out of a decent job if I can help it by telling them I am still off the road.

I don't intend to be dishonest but when filling out an application form and declaring the conviction you don't normally need to state the ban length anyway.

My question is can potential employers find out the length of your ban?

CJ

 

[neebob200]

Good afternoon

I'm presently in my 16th month of a 21 month driving ban.

I'm just looking at applying for a new job as my present role came to an end with it being a fixed term contract.

Obviously, when applying for new jobs you have to declare DD as a unspent conviction for five years from the date of conviction.

I've seen a job that involves travelling to another town & if I was fortunate to get an interview I'd rather keep the fact I'm still off the road to myself if possible as it may go against me.

I've done my homework & even if I had a July/August start date I would simply have 4, maybe 5 months of using public transport & acquiring lifts which I can put up with. However, I don't want to do myself out of a decent job if I can help it by telling them I am still off the road.

I don't intend to be dishonest but when filling out an application form and declaring the conviction you don't normally need to state the ban length anyway.

My question is can potential employers find out the length of your ban?

CJ

Hi,there is no way any employer would check on the length of your ban,they will have your conviction on the dbs and that all they need to know,say nothing unless anybody asks and good luck.

 

[Medicine Man]

Hi CJ,

I was in a similar situation to yourself a few years ago with my old job. I didn’t need to declare my conviction on the application form as I wasn’t asked, however in the interview, I was up front and did mention the fact that I was disqualified and that I was planning on going through the process of getting my license back early. By this point, I had gone through so many interviews and not got the job that I just thought “what the hell... I’ll just declare it and be honest about it”.

The company didn’t do DBS checks as it wasn’t a job which was considered ‘sensitive’, however there were other arrangements that could be made as I couldn’t drive - I needed to travel all over the country and occasionally abroad.

Companies usually either don’t bother looking at your disqualification, or if they do, either through a DBS check or because you declared it on the application form, they will only be able to see the reason for disqualification such as drink driving or failing to provide a breath sample etc. The only way a company could find out the length of your ban and any other details is if you were featured in a local paper as the court reporter more often than not will include the details of the offence, the sentence and the disqualification length.

MM

 

[price1367]

You only have to declare the conviction. If your job does not involve driving then it should not worry them and transport arrangements are your concern. Someone in HR who is savvy might ask the question about the length of the ban so be honest if you are asked.

 

[Westham92]

Hi CJ,

I was in a similar situation to yourself a few years ago with my old job. I didn’t need to declare my conviction on the application form as I wasn’t asked, however in the interview, I was up front and did mention the fact that I was disqualified and that I was planning on going through the process of getting my license back early. By this point, I had gone through so many interviews and not got the job that I just thought “what the hell... I’ll just declare it and be honest about it”.

The company didn’t do DBS checks as it wasn’t a job which was considered ‘sensitive’, however there were other arrangements that could be made as I couldn’t drive - I needed to travel all over the country and occasionally abroad.

Companies usually either don’t bother looking at your disqualification, or if they do, either through a DBS check or because you declared it on the application form, they will only be able to see the reason for disqualification such as drink driving or failing to provide a breath sample etc. The only way a company could find out the length of your ban and any other details is if you were featured in a local paper as the court reporter more often than not will include the details of the offence, the sentence and the disqualification length.

MM