Would you hire someone with a criminal record?

Generally yes, depends on the crime and the job, I’m not giving someone a job in my finance IT department if they’re a convicted fraudster, for example.

 

And the nature of the job. I'd be nervous about taking on a convicted fraudster as a bank cashier.....

 

A

Already got a criminal in No 10....

 

Depends on the severity of the crime and what you were employing them to do. Friend of mine served time - he was in a bad place mentally and ended up assaulting a police officer. He served his time and is working now - turned his life around and is doing well

 

I volunteer as a mentor for a charity rehabilitating ex-offenders. Amazing to see so many enlightened opinions on here.

I firmly believe a majority of offenders are victims of circumstance and upbringing, these people can be rehabilitated, making a better life for themselves and meaning no future victims.

Obviously some crimes are beyong the pale and need to be properly punished but it's a crying shame prisons don't focus on rehabilitation. That is the most simple way of reducing crime.

80% of prisoners who are released from prison leave homeless. Most have no documentation, so can't claim social welfare, or apply for jobs. It's obvious that the majority will reoffend as they have no other option. Simple **** like getting prisoners passports and bank accounts pre-release would reduce crime significantly.

 

If we’re talking about hiring someone to do work in my home…. I would have no idea if they have a record, so probably already have.

 

I'd hire on the the grounds of ...if you are rehabilitated then that's fine by me however if you are not totally rehabilitated and you are keeping your hand in...is there any chance you can get me a new colour telly. Before you call it a day then.....lol
."what" what's wrong with that.idea lol.. im just promoting social enterprise lol

 

No mate. Don’t even bother applying

 

Of all the things which make me depressed about politics in this country, this is probably number one. It's pretty much inarguable at this point that a focus on rehabilitation and giving people who have been convicted of crimes everything that they need to get back on their feet is good for the person in question, good for society as a whole and, when it comes down to it, massively cheaper for the taxpayer.

The far left, the middling left, the liberal 'woke brigade', the one-nation conservatives and the ultra right wing budget hawks should all be in full agreement on this. It's better for everybody and also costs less! Fixating on punishment over rehabilitation is sheer sadism.

 

Wouldn't employ Gary Glitter to look after my kids or a thief to clean my house, joking aside it depends on what their crime was and what kind of employment it is, i would 100% be asked to go on a unconscious bias course even though my decision would have been very consciously

 

Company I worked at working on construction sites the application forms would ask if you had a record, nobody ever said yes and we never felt a need to check.
When we started to work more into Facility Management and Insurance markets we did full DBS checks on the staff and it was quite surprising how many and which staff did have records.
Most was for minor things like caught in possession etc but there were a couple more serious like burglary, violence etc.
I had to speak to each person individually but not one person lost their job as a result.

 

I have interviewed and employed two people with Criminal Records.

The first took me by surprise as it had been a great interview and when I asked at the end of there was anything else he wanted to cover he revealed that he had received a formal caution as a teenager for possession of Class A drug.

He confessed that as a 19 year old he took cocaine and stressed that it was when he was a stupid kid he'd started taking it on nights out. He wasn't dealing and it was only a formal caution as opposed to charge and conviction.

I was impressed that he was honest enough to raise it and he was entirely genuine. I gave him the job and he was a perfect employee. I've moved on from that firm and he's still there, and doing well I believe.

The other was someone who was convicted of vehicular homicide in a foreign country with a questionable 'Justice' system.

He said he just wanted a chance to prove himself and was then rude to other staff, accused a colleague of bullying him; and then went onto sick leave (whilst simultaneously posting pictures of himself on Facebook attending a course to qualify into a new area).

He was just a wrong un full stop, I don't think the conviction was relevant, just his nature.

As with anything else, there is always context.