Will my 24 year old sons caution stop me from working for the police

ratechaser

Mickey666 said:

I don't see why the actions of one adult should be taken into account when vetting another adult, whether it be a caution or a full criminal record.

Unless the adult being vetted is in some way implicated in the offence why should it matter?

Don't you watch Line of Duty - the family of the OP could all be lifelong members of an OCG. One of them could even be 'H'  

Well, of course they're not, but you can understand why they would want to go beyond the individual themselves when screening for certain roles. Hard to see however that a single caution is going to raise any eyebrows.

Undervalued

Mickey666 said:

I don't see why the actions of one adult should be taken into account when vetting another adult, whether it be a caution or a full criminal record.

Unless the adult being vetted is in some way implicated in the offence why should it matter?

It matters if the potential employer has decided it matters to them, which they are quite entitled to do.

When deciding whether to employ somebody the employer can use whatever criteria they like, except for a fairly limited number of factors protected by law.

No doubt statistics would show that somebody with an adult child who has a conviction / caution for dishonesty has a slightly higher chance of having dishonest parents. Now that is grossly unfair on the many (probably the majority) of parents where that is not the case. However if there is even a 5 or 10% increased likelihood and they have plenty of other applicants to choose from they may decide not to take the chance.

Years ago I provided a reference for a close friend's son who applied for a job with the security services. The process is mind blowing and will inevitably rule out a huge number of totally honest and suitable candidates.

bizdustry

I don't think that the actions of somebody else, even if they are a family member, will affect your career choices unless you participate in the same activities as they do. It could be grounds for discrimination. 

Gavin83

ratechaser said:

Mickey666 said:

I don't see why the actions of one adult should be taken into account when vetting another adult, whether it be a caution or a full criminal record.

Unless the adult being vetted is in some way implicated in the offence why should it matter?

Well, of course they're not, but you can understand why they would want to go beyond the individual themselves when screening for certain roles. Hard to see however that a single caution is going to raise any eyebrows.

I also think it’s ridiculous that you can be denied a job due to the actions of another person. I get that they can do it but none the less I think it’s pretty immoral. I’d hate to be denied a job due to a crime a relative of mine had committed.

General_Grant

bizdustry said:

I don't think that the actions of somebody else, even if they are a family member, will affect your career choices unless you participate in the same activities as they do. It could be grounds for discrimination. 

Anything which is used to discriminate (for or against) is, by definition, grounds for discrimination.

However, if you are suggesting that discrimination on the grounds of the activities of a connected person is unlawful discrimination in the OP's situation, then it would not be.

TBagpuss

Gavin83 said:

I also think it’s ridiculous that you can be denied a job due to the actions of another person. I get that they can do it but none the less I think it’s pretty immoral. I’d hate to be denied a job due to a crime a relative of mine had committed.

I presume that where it's relevant, it's because they consider that it has potential risks.
For instance, if you were applying to join the police and had an immediate family member with multiple convictions there might be concerns about whether you might be a risk (e.g. might you warn them if you became aware of a police raid on them/their associates, or if an arrest or search warrant was being issued, or might be vulnerable to pressure from them or their associates to pass information to them, or withhold it from the police). 
I would imagine that a great deal would depend on the nature of your relationship with the criminal, and on the nature of the crime. A recent conviction of someone who was living in your household would, I would imagine, be a much bigger issue than a historic crime or on by someone you were related to but don't live with.