What is the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act?
The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 gives people with spent convictions and cautions the right not to disclose them when applying for most jobs, and buying insurance. Apart from those given prison sentences of more than 4 years, most people with convictions will benefit from it at some point in their lives. The changes came into force on the 10th March 2014.
What are the benefits of it?
The main benefits of the Act relate to applying for work and insurance. Generally, once spent, you can legally ‘lie’ about your past convictions by answering ‘no’ to a question about convictions.
Applying for work
Once your convictions are spent, the Act gives you the right not to disclose them when applying for jobs, unless the role is exempt from the Act. Most employers with jobs covered by the Act will only ask for ‘unspent’ convictions. If they ask about all convictions, you should check what level of disclosure they’re entitled to, and if it’s only a basic DBS disclosure, then this may be an ineligible check and you can legally withhold any spent convictions.
Applying for insurance
Once your convictions are spent, the Act gives you the right not to disclose them when applying for insurance. For example, spent motoring convictions do not need to be disclosed when applying for car insurance. This applies no matter what question an insurance company asks. Most will only ask for unspent convictions, although some might ask for ‘any convictions in the last 5 years’. If it’s spent, you do not need to disclose it under any circumstances when applying for insurance.
What doesn’t it cover?
- It only applies in England and Wales. If you’re applying for work in another country you’ll need to check the disclosure laws that apply in that country.
- You may have to disclose spent convictions when applying for jobs that are exempt from the Act. These will normally involve a standard or enhanced DBScriminal record check.