Finding work with a police caution?

[Bairyheaver]

Please bear with me this will be long.

This time last year my dh had a nervous breakdown, the full extent of which only became apparent when he was arrested for shoplifting. This was a total shock to me as he was so out of character. He was 46.

In the spring he was given redundancy notice, but was fortunate to secure new employment (he is a health professional), he fully disclosed his caution and the employer was happy to give him a chance.

All seemed to be going well, until there was a management restructure and his manager wants him out and is he'll bent on sabotage, and I fear he may have to leave before he is pushed.

The biggest concern is that we absolutely will not have enough money to pay our bills, I already work 62 hours per week as we have debt, from years of ivf to have our two lovely children.

Does anyone know if he could ever be re-employed in the nhs, as he would happily go back to shop floor nursing. His depression has been treated and is not a bad man.

Failing that, what sort of employment could he secure not needing a crb, tesco's etc?

Please help if you have advice, I haven't slept in days and am so worried.

If your DH is working in the DHS and needs a CRB check nothing is ever 'spent' as such and needs declaring. However I think CRB checks are only routine if you are working with children. I've had loads done because of this.

Some cautions are 'recordable'(imprisonable offences) and some more minor(breach of the peace) and how they are declared are different. It depends a lot on how DHs caution was recorded. go to this
Could he try a free 1/2 hour with a solicitor who deals with criminal law to clarify the situation?

Employers, including the NHS, aren't allowed to exclude everyone who has a conviction or caution. There must be some relevance to the role being undertaken. I don't know the NHS policy on this but I would be surprised if a caution for shoplifting was a bar on employment in the NHS.

prh - shoplifting is a dishonest act so the nhs could bar him - think about all the drugs that are used in the NHS.
Sorry Bairy I'm not criticising DH but that is how it would be. BUT BUT BUT if you read the 'this' bit Ive added it sounds very positive to me under the rehabilitational of offenders act 1974 that your DH WON'T have to declare his caution for a normal NHS job. I think they only CRB for children and vulnerable adults. He could work pretty much anywhere in that case.

Try to download an application form for a bog standard NHS job and go through the whole process - somewhere it will say whether a CRB check needs making - I think you will find it is not. Good Luck

I meant that I would be surprised if it was a complete bar. It may, of course, rule him out for some roles.

Thank for your replies, I am having yet another sleepless night!

He would have to have a crb for any role in the nhs, but it's just a case of whether they would give him a second chance? I hoped that there may be a human resources worker who might know?

He totally understands that what he did was wrong, but it was out of character, I don't think you get to your late forties and discover your inner criminal, but also he knows that he must face the consequences of his actions. According to our gp it is actually quite a common symptom of stress/depression and is a cry for help. Unfortunately it is having a huge effect on his family.

He would happily work a few nights a week in a nursing home, but again, would they employ him? Hopefully the job centre has a list of such employers
who are sympathetic to hard luck cases??

Thanks again, i' m just so overwhelmed with fear I don't know where to turn.

Could he look into private work for drug companies?? They often have nurses to do regular checks on people on drug trials who only deal with adults, they may not do the crb. get the nursing mags and look through the jobs there, lots of companies advertise there, dont panic as you say shoplifting is common in depressive illness.

As far as I know, most, if not all, nursing jobs require an enhanced CRB check, as I've had one for each of my jobs and am not a paediatric nurse. You would encounter "vulnerable adults" anywhere as they suffer the same range of illness and accidents as anyone else - any drug company that employed nurses without doing a CRB check should be shut down.

Is he not employed by the NHS now? He should speak to his union rep anyway, I trained with someone who had a record for possession of class B drugs and he has worked constantly with his enhanced CRB showing this conviction. You are not automatically excluded from the NHS with a criminal record, but it depends what it's for - RCN or Unison nursing rep should be able to tell him more. To be honest I would have thought he'd have more trouble getting Occupational Health clearance with such a recent breakdown.

Is redeployment in the organisation he works in now an option? If he is NHS he could potentially be redeployed on health grounds due to stress from the trouble with his manager.

The worst thing to do would be not to declare it and then be shown to be dishonest.

Can he talk to HR where he works now - both about future employment, etc but mainly if he is being bullied by a manager he needs to tell someone. We had a problem with a bullying culture at work (NHS) and people blew the whistle. Our tust spent a lot of money getting a consultancy firm to interview people, make recommendations, etc. It was taken seriously. Is there a matron, head of dept, etc he can go to?

Tell him not to jump before he's pushed, he's better going off sick with stress than walking out.

No he has been in the private sector for quite a few years in middle management, he isn't getting any support where he is now and I don't think any will be forthcoming!

Unfortunately he has a 6 month trial basis on his contract, which is the 3rd week in feb, so in all honesty I think he will be asked to leave then.

Trying to stay positive but it is so hard