Family criminal record and job application

saxevest

Having recently passed my SIA Door Supervisor course I have started applying for jobs in the security industry.

G4S have invited me to attend an interview in a couple of days and have emailed an application form i am to take with me..

Its a simple form that doesnt get too invasive (The job is for a Court Security Officer)

However.. One question asks if "Any member of your family, near relative or common law partner have ever been convicted of a civil or criminal offence"

How do i approach this question.

I have a family member who has made some mistakes in the past.. Do I/ am i permitted to disclose this information without his permission ? or do i refuse to give details?

I am worried his convictions might jeopardise my getting this position but dont want to risk leaving them off and being wrong for doing so.
Any advice would be great

HappyMJ

I think they mean family that you actually live with and not family that you don't live with. You can also deny all knowledge if you want.

AP007

OP maybe you don't know if someone has a criminal record. I mean why would you?

LittleVoice

saxevest wrote: »

Having recently passed my SIA Door Supervisor course I have started applying for jobs in the security industry.

G4S have invited me to attend an interview in a couple of days and have emailed an application form i am to take with me..

Its a simple form that doesnt get too invasive (The job is for a Court Security Officer)

However.. One question asks if "Any member of your family, near relative or common law partner have ever been convicted of a civil or criminal offence"

How do i approach this question.

I have a family member who has made some mistakes in the past.. Do I/ am i permitted to disclose this information without his permission ? or do i refuse to give details?

I am worried his convictions might jeopardise my getting this position but dont want to risk leaving them off and being wrong for doing so.
Any advice would be great

It is my understanding that nobody is ever convicted of a civil offence.

A defendant in a civil case either is or is not liable to the claimant.

So perhaps G4S don't know what they are asking.

browneyedbazzi

LittleVoice wrote: »

It is my understanding that nobody is ever convicted of a civil offence.

A defendant in a civil case either is or is not liable to the claimant.

So perhaps G4S don't know what they are asking.

That's my understanding too - seems like they've got the question wrong.

As for criminal convictions - how close is your relationship with the family member who you believe has had trouble with the law? Do you actually know (for a fact, without asking him for details) that he has been convicted, for what, when? If you don't know then you can't be expected to include it on the form.

Also, if his convictions are things you came to know about through your personal connection with him (ie not as part of a business or work for a public body) then you can include it on the form. The Data Protection Act doesn't apply to information you come to know as a private individual.

Mojisola

saxevest wrote: »

Its a simple form that doesnt get too invasive (The job is for a Court Security Officer)

However.. One question asks if "Any member of your family, near relative or common law partner have ever been convicted of a civil or criminal offence"

It could be difficult for a Court Security Officer if members of his family were regular attendees at the court - perhaps that's what's behind the question.

Like HappyMJ says - I think "family" means people you live with otherwise they wouldn't need to add "near relative". How close a relative is this person and how long ago were the convictions? If not too close a family member, you could ignore it.

Lying on an application form is never a good idea. If you're unsure, talk about it with G4S.

Voyager2002

The key question is: if you write "none" and then they find out, how would you explain the discrepancy? If these are things that your relative has happened to have told you but might not have done, then it could well be that the first you heard of the matter was when G4S asked you about it. However, if it were obvious that you must have known at the time you filled in the form, then explaining a 'no' answer would be impossible, so in that case you would need to declare it.

Voyager2002

Mojisola wrote: »

It could be difficult for a Court Security Officer if members of his family were regular attendees at the court - perhaps that's what's behind the question.

Like HappyMJ says - I think "family" means people you live with otherwise they wouldn't need to add "near relative". How close a relative is this person and how long ago were the convictions? If not too close a family member, you could ignore it.

Lying on an application form is never a good idea. If you're unsure, talk about it with G4S.

Given that G4S are a bunch of incompetent frauds themselves, discussing it with them is unlikely to lead to a happy outcome.

Mojisola

Voyager2002 wrote: »

Given that G4S are a bunch of incompetent frauds themselves, discussing it with them is unlikely to lead to a happy outcome.

So what's left - put down everything and get turned down for the job or lie?

starrystarry

I wouldn't disclose it. I presume G4S can't check whether your answer is correct without doing a CRB check on every member of your family. Surely they'd need consent from each member of the family to do that.

ankspon

I have had several jobs,inc court security and nobody has ever checked my record.