Simon Barker:

With certain exceptions, an employer should not be asking about convictions that are spent, and the employee is under no obligation to disclose them.

There have been cases of engineering companies carrying out enhanced DBS checks without any prior warning or for positions that probably don't require them. This shows up ALL spent convictions.

Any employer who fired such an employee could be sued for wrongful dismissal.  I cannot see how the employer could possibly successfully sue the employee.

Also, what about convictions that were unspent when the employee started the job but were spent when the management found out about them? Do you retain the employee because the convictions are now spent or do you sack them because they lied on the application form.

Ronald McMurtrie:

Those serving time in prison do have the opportunity to study for Open University degrees.  If successful in gaining a degree, should anyone on release be prevented from seeking appropriate employment?

Open University degrees have been severely curtailed by the ConDem government. Prisoners now how to take out loans in order to study for them. The number of degree courses have also been cut back because the OU now assumes that students have regular internet access but prisoners in Britain do not.

While the examples quoted are not in Engineering, it still demonstrates what is possible in terms of rehabilitation.

These are all simple basic jobs. I'm trying to work out how high the glass ceiling is when it comes to ex-cons and careers. It's notable that official education programmes in prisons of Level 3 and higher have almost completely been abolished by the ConDem government, leaving only basic (primary school level) education and Level 1 and 2 qualifications. Although the priority is prisoners with a low level of education and skills, reading between the lines is a message that there is little point in ex-prisoners having a Level 3 qualification or higher because they cannot realistically use them, which is why prisons no longer offer them, There is no point in a person who has served a prison sentence having or studying for a degree in dentistry as they cannot use it in Britain. Most careers working with children or vulnerable adults are also closed. A few ex-prisoners have studied law degrees and become solicitors, but this has provoked strong feelings of anger and resentment from the public.

Howard Warren:

I can see there would be an issue of you had a more serious criminal record (eg custodial sentence) and didn't declare it when applying for a job - should the employer then go down the line of compulsory DBS checking, then you could rightfully expect consequences - you'd come across as dishonest at the very least. However, in my opinion, a magistrate's fine or a caution, received over 20 years ago and whilst a teenager, really shouldn't pose a problem if it came to light, especially if you've kept your nose clean in the interim. Though you'd gain a lot more respect if you declared it at the application stage. That said, there are convicted hackers now enjoying rewarding careers in cyber-security... poacher turned gamekeeper, but that's another topic!