Will anyone ever give my DH another chance

[DesperateToHelpMyHudband]

Hi I have name changed for this.

Long story for background:

My husband is in his early 50's. We have been married 25 years and have 3 teenage daughters.

When my husband was a teenager he and some other boys were convicted for armed robbery and he spent 3 years in prison.

When he was released he was determined to turn his life around and after much searching he landed a roll in the finance department of a large company. He worked his way up over the years and became a manager and a well respected member of staff. He worked his socks off and never took any time off sick.

When he applied for the job they didn't ask him if he had a criminal record and he didn't declare it. Fast forward 30 years and because of new regulations in the industry his company decided to do a retrospective criminal record check. Before they could do that he disclosed it to the senior partner in the London office. They suspended him straight away and after deliberation by a committee in a different country that have never met him they decided to get rid of him with a small pay out.

This was six months ago and he cannot get another job. Nobody is giving him a chance. He has tried everything but no luck with anything at all.

It breaks my heart. He is a totally different person to that teenager all those years ago. He was such a loyal member of staff. He worked long hours and never took a day off sick for the first 20 years and even then only because he had to.

He would be an asset to any company but is he destined for the scrap heap?

He can't even get a manual labour job. I know people will say he should work for himself but doing what ?

Was he an approved person/did he have prescribed responsibilities? If so, he would have had to submit applications to the FCA which asked about criminal offences and therefore it would not have been one lie 30 years ago or whatever, but an ongoing lie that would suggest he lacks integrity. This would be an extremely serious issue that could be a bar to further employment.

I agree that consulting jobs may be a possibility. If he is this senior, he must have skills that would be transferrable. He may have to be willing to travel through. He could talk to headhunters about potential roles or financial services consultancies about whether they need additional help on specific projects

Has he considered motor trade jobs? There are lots of finance related positions and the checks aren't so stringent. Depending on your location there are often area rep jobs for finance companies or manufacturer finance teams.

@blackcat86. I hope that makes you feel better🙄. Teenager makes a big mistake, does time and reforms. A man holds down a responsible job for 30 years and lives a good life, doesn’t repeat his actions,and yet you still want to put the boot in? I’d far rather be his friend/employer than yours ‍🤷🏻‍♀️ Yes, I’m sure this had a huge impact on any victims lives, but there might not have been anyone there when they did the robbery.

@DesperateToHelpMyHudband. I would definitely see what he can do with regards to unfair dismissal.

Could he set himself up as a pensions advisor or something? I don’t know what the legalities are, but if he could find that out then work out what he’s legally allowed to offer his services as it could be an entry to being self employed.

I really feel for him, it’s hard enough getting a new job once you hit 50 without this as well.

Is he handy around the house? There’s a definite lack of ’ handymen’ around these days?

I think ‘self employed’ is probably going to be his best option, but I know it’s difficult to think of ‘what’ to do.

Do your daughters know what’s going on?’

Just a warning about contracting and consulting- many businesses do require their contractors and consultants to have a dbs check as well as their own permanent staff.

Dellacucina no he wasn't an approved person.

Just saw your updates. That's tough. I still think project based work (possibly lower level than he would like) would be fine.

Also consider whether the CV is up to scratch for being a senior person or whether it highlights expertise. A great title need not be a barrier to entry if the rest of the CV makes it clear that you're willing to get your hands dirty and you have real expertise.

For example, someone hiring a consultant to work on a s.166 review (there are lots of these that go on, and they can be lengthy, large scale projects) as one workhorse member of a team won't be keen to hire someone who highlights their management experience. What they want to know is that you know how to apply the rules for consumer credit or providing financial advice etc

I see he’s emailing but encourage him to pick up the phone. It can work wonders. Best of luck 💐

Yeah, most employers would probably do a background check. I would think that admitting it upfront, after an agreement in principle to be hired but before the background checks are done, would be a way to ensure you're considered for the role fairly but you don't seem dishonest for omitting essential information.

I work in financial services and contractors undergo the same background checks as perm employees.

I think this is such a terrible and sad story. I hope he finds something soon. We can’t have a society that one mistake means your unemployable for the rest of your life. That would mean people who are condemned early on have no chance of a working life and might as well follow a life of crime or living on benefits, which would be such a waste, terrible for society and massively soul destroying for the individual.

For what it’s worth, I wouldn’t be scared of telling your children or friends. It’s a great example of guts, hard work and taking charge of life when you’ve made a massive mistake. I’d be proud of him.

Thank you Amelie Taylor. No our daughters don't know and we would really rather they didn't know.

If he has lots of industry experience, could he consider teaching in a Further Education College / Provider? They’ll have to do some checks but so many are committed to helping people turn their lives around, his experience could be really valuable.

Some people make small mistakes, other people make big ones. We all make mistakes and no one is perfect. People often change personally over time.

If the conviction isn’t spent then your husband did 4 or more years in prison. Have you thought about going for a job which doesn’t do DBS checks? Or go self employed using existing skills in finance.

blackcat 1 in 3 men have a criminal record. Should they all be punished for the rest of their lives?

He was punished and has lived an exemplary life since then.
His organisation has behaved poorly and I would take some advice. When this happens at my organisation we consider the individual circumstances and make a risk assessment.

Sorry, cross posted with you recent posts.

I know it’s difficult/embarrassing but sometimes you just have to get over that. I think it would be better to tell your daughters before they find out (and they will). It will destroy the trust if they dint hear it from you.

Friends too. They might be able to help with getting another job. If they stop being your friends then they’re not really friends anyway. It was 30 years ago, not last weekend. He’s changed, he’s proven himself.

I think trying to keep it hidden is a mistake and will make things more difficult.

I’m surprised it’s not spent though? When will it be?

He received a six year sentence but only served three years which is why it isn't spent.

I think the CV needs to be rewritten to downplay the seniority, to be honest. That will be is only chance to do a sideways move.

Perhaps he could try freelancing on a freelance website. Have a look at a site like UpWorks and see what sort of freelance opportunities are on there.

Just want to say thank you so much to everyone who took time to reply.

He has pretty much tried or looked into all the above options.

I guess he needs to just keep plodding along and keep our fingers crossed that something comes up eventually.

Did your husband take any advice when he was going through the process at his previous job? Looking at the advice on the nacro website his conviction would be considered 'spent' under the rehabilitation of offenders act and therefore he does not need to declare it in job applications.

In terms of checks undertaken in the financial sector, they still shouldn't be taking it into consideration because it's a spent conviction. This doesn't mean some companies won't find another way to withdraw an offer a job, but they can't use his previous conviction as a reason.

I strongly advise your husband to get advice from somewhere like nacro on how he handles this stuff when he applies for jobs and that he stops telling people up front about it.

Has he tried public sector? They don't pay as well but they are usually more clued up about this stuff and more likely to play it straight when employing people with 'history'

A 3yr prison sentence is spent in 7yrs and spent convictions will not show on dbs checks. So unless you’re not getting/giving the whole story he doesn’t have to declare it and shouldn’t be an issue

Yes he did take advice. They made him sign a non-disclosure agreement and they employ one of the top law firms in the world for their employment issues so I'd imagine it would be watertight.

Unfortunately the conviction is definitely not spent.

Please double check if he needs to declare his conviction. It should have become “spent” by now. Don’t think he needed to dosclose it to his previous employer at all
And not the new ones - t

Sorry just seen that full sentence was over 4 years so will never be spent.

Good luck. I am sure that something will come along but it must be very sad and stressful.

Cross posted but please check elsewhere about the conviction.

Sorry - just saw the other message about it being 6 years.