When is a conviction "spent"?

abi-em-mum83

Hi Im not sure if this is the right place to post this, if its not hopefully the mods will move it to its rightful place!
Im posting this for a fellow MSE-er who unfortunately is scared to post themselves anymore after several threads turned nasty, so I have agreed to post and get advice on their behalf.
Basically they were convicted of benefit fraud (dont think this is its proper name, when declaring what should they be calling it?) they received 180 hours of community service which is ongoing (all be it slowly will several obstacles). Money is exceptionally tight, and they are back to being a single parent again,so desperate to return to work. The problem is getting a job with an unspent conviction, they are having doors slammed in their face left right and centre. Yesterday they applied online for temp xmas sorters with their local royal mail office, part of it was all the bumf about convictions, and apparently theres a list that shows the punishment received and the rehabilitation period for that punishment, and when that conviction is spent and no longer required to declare (for most jobs).
Now this has gotten them very upset, they were led to believe once their punishment was served it would be classed as spent and for jobs that required a standard disclosure she'd no longer need to declare it. But this list showed community service as having a 5 year rehabilition period before its spent. What is right?
I advised to go to CAB for advice but when they called this morning apparently there are no appointments till mid December, and they were warned they are very busy and they could have a 5 hour wait (with 2 under 5's) in a small waiting room with no ammenities, and that sometimes people arent even seen after that (they were told this from a worker at CAB this morning)
Can anyone give this person any advice without all the grief they normally get, all the crap of you shouldnt of done the crime if you couldnt do the time?
Basically how long till its spent? They genuinely WANT to be a valued member of society, want to provide for their children,rebuild their life, etc.

crazyguy

5 years after the date of conviction,

brettcta

in before the high horses arrive

maninthestreet

With an unspent conviction related to benefit fraud, they stand a snowball's chance in a furnace of getting a job that involves any degree of trust.

fluffnutter

Depends on the conviction. For example, prison sentences of greater than 30 months are never spent. From the information you provide, and assuming the person was 18 or over when they received the conviction I'd say five years.

Here's a basic summary. You can find out more by reading the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act here.

abi-em-mum83

Thanks guys. Not the news I wanted to tell them! They've been telling me that 90% of the jobs applied for in last couple of weeks have been online application forms, and quite a few of them dont let them past the criminal convictions parts once she ticks the box for yes,i have unspent convictions for a fraud. Such a shame. I know the person has done wrong,but surely they are entitled to a second chance, to improve their lives so theres no chance so whatever of re-offending! If this is the struggle people face when they have commited their first offence, its no wonder they carry on offending!! But hey thats opening up a whole can of worms Id rather not open up, they've had enough abuse thrown at them over this!
Does anyone know if benefit fraud is the correct term?

abi-em-mum83

brettcta wrote: »

in before the high horses arrive

Pmsl LOVE IT! Can hear them arriving in the distance.....their hooves almost sound like they are saying Im right,Im perfect, Im right,Im perfect!!!lol xx

crazyguy

I would think benefit fraud is the correct term, I suggest he/she looks at voluntary work, this may help in future applications.

scheming_gypsy

abi-em-mum83 wrote: »

Thanks guys. Not the news I wanted to tell them! They've been telling me that 90% of the jobs applied for in last couple of weeks have been online application forms, and quite a few of them dont let them past the criminal convictions parts once she ticks the box for yes,i have unspent convictions for a fraud. Such a shame. I know the person has done wrong,but surely they are entitled to a second chance, to improve their lives so theres no chance so whatever of re-offending! If this is the struggle people face when they have commited their first offence, its no wonder they carry on offending!! But hey thats opening up a whole can of worms Id rather not open up, they've had enough abuse thrown at them over this!
Does anyone know if benefit fraud is the correct term?

but if they don't have to declare them once they've done their sentence they can do it again. If somebody spends 3 years in prison for robbing their work place, and the conviction is spent once they get out of prison - then they'd be able to go straight into another job and do it all again without having to declare it.

brettcta

abi-em-mum83 wrote: »

Thanks guys. Not the news I wanted to tell them! They've been telling me that 90% of the jobs applied for in last couple of weeks have been online application forms, and quite a few of them dont let them past the criminal convictions parts once she ticks the box for yes,i have unspent convictions for a fraud. Such a shame. I know the person has done wrong,but surely they are entitled to a second chance, to improve their lives so theres no chance so whatever of re-offending! If this is the struggle people face when they have commited their first offence, its no wonder they carry on offending!! But hey thats opening up a whole can of worms Id rather not open up, they've had enough abuse thrown at them over this!
Does anyone know if benefit fraud is the correct term?

i hope this doesn't come across as high-horsish, but as you know, fraud is a crime where it can be hard to find basis to trust someone once they've been convicted. i understand and agree to an extent that your friend may deserve a second chance, but i can side greater with employers in this situation, especially in a time where there are generally more applicants for every job than there may have been 5/6 years ago, why employ someone who it has been proven beyond reasonable doubt has defrauded someone, when you can employ someone with no criminal record to do the same job? it's tough times for (almost) everyone - you can see why employers would not want to increase their risk of further losing money to potentially fraudulent members of staff.

as an aside, i don't know about these things, but do big companies have insurance against thefts or any kind from their staff? i ask this because there may be other issues than just trust behind why the op's friend can't get past the 'i have spent convictions for fraud' section of an application? would it be likely that company a's insurance would be invalid for losses incurred by employing an employee convicted of fraud?

pulliptears

Nothing to add, but how incredibly refreshing to read a thread on a more sensitive subject that hasn't gone down the lines it usually goes down. Just good advice and discussion