Resourcing | Why criminal record declarations could be 'legitimising' discrimination

Employers asking candidates to disclose their criminal records during the recruitment process "legitimises" employer discrimination, a criminologist has warned.

Dr Beth Weaver, a Criminology expert and Senior Lecturer at Strathclyde University, told Sky News that “asking people to disclose their convictions at the job application stage legitimises employer discrimination, as most employers don't know how to make sense of the information provided and undermines the purposes of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act."

She added that giving ex-offenders the chance to secure work they will not only improve their contrition towards a safer society but would hugely benefit the individual on a personal level.

A new paper published by the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice found that one in six people in the UK has a criminal record.