As of 28 October 2023, nearly 125,000 people sentenced in 2022 immediately benefitted from the changes arising from the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022.
Under the previous law, some offenders were required to disclose criminal convictions to their employer or prospective employer for the rest of their lives, in accordance with the relevant ‘rehabilitation period’, which created a significant barrier to obtaining employment. Now, this position has changed, except for those offenders who have committed serious sexual, violent, or terrorist offences, who are excluded from these changes (a step which was felt necessary to avoid an increased risk to the public). The changes do not directly affect, for example, teaching applicants, as the stricter disclosure rules applicable to jobs working with vulnerable people continue through standard and enhanced DBS checks. We previously shared our insight on this related topic ‘Is an applicant required to disclose all of their criminal convictions when applying for a role at a school?’, which you may wish to read here in order to further your understanding of such matters.
For context, the rehabilitation period is the ‘spending period’ following a full sentence after which a conviction becomes ‘spent’, which means the conviction will no longer appear on a basic criminal record and will only show up on standard and enhanced DBS checks. This means that an employee would no longer be required to tell a potential employer about a conviction if only a standard DBS check is undertaken.
The changes made to rehabilitation periods for adults (over 18s) after which convictions become spent are:
| Previous | New | ||
| Sentence | Spending Period | Sentence | Spending Period |
| (Adult) Community Order | one year beginning with the last day on which the order has effect | (Adult) Community Order | The last day on which the order has effect |
| Custody of six months or less | two years | Custody of one year or less | one year |
| Custody of more than six months up to 30 months (2.5 years) | four years | Custody of more than one year up to four years | four years |
| Custody of more than 30 months (2.5 years) up to four years | seven years | Custody of more than four years | seven years |
| Custody of more than four years | Conviction is never spent |
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The changes made to rehabilitation periods for under 18s after which convictions become spent are:
| Previous | New | ||
| Sentence | Spending Period | Sentence | Spending Period |
| Youth Rehabilitation Order | six months beginning with the last day on which the order has effect | Youth Rehabilitation Order | The last day on which the order has effect |
| Custody of six months or less | 18 months | Custody of one year or less | six months |
| Custody of more than six months up to 30 months (2.5 years) | two years | Custody of more than one year up to four years | two years |
| Custody of more than 30 months (2.5 years) up to four years | 3.5 years | Custody of more than four years | 3.5 years |
| Custody of more than four years | Conviction is never spent |
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If you have an employment issue relating to criminal convictions and their disclosure, or anticipate that you may be in the near future, please do get in touch with our team, here.
