17
Mar
2015
By Calvin at 11:18 GMT, 10 years ago
Employers who carry out ‘back-door’ criminal record checks on potential employees could face criminal charges after it is finally outlawed.
There is a well-established lawful process for checking criminal records, but some rogue employers have tried to bypass that by demanding prospective employees use their rights under the DPA to see information held about them.
This ‘enforced subject access’ bypasses the legal criminal record check process, overriding safeguards that only allow for checks and disclosure of information appropriate to the role being applied for.
The practice will be outlawed from the 10 March, when a provision in the DPA is finally implemented after a 17 year wait. This makes it a criminal offence to require an individual to make a subject access request to get information about their convictions and cautions and provide that information to a person.
Read the rest on the ICO’s website here: https://ico.org.uk/about-the-ico/news-and-events/news-and-blogs/2015/03/law-change-outlaws-back-door-criminal-record-check/
