Let's stop putting employment barriers in front of people with criminal convictions
While many have heard of Garda vetting, the criminal background check carried out by An Garda Síochána is frequently misunderstood and misrepresented in public discourse.
Discussing individual cases publicly also demonstrates disregard for the privacy and reintegration of people with convictions.
The law relating to Garda vetting of prospective employees is clear. Garda vetting, under the National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act 2012-2016, is mandated for people with access to or contact with children and/or vulnerable people in the course of their work.
Garda vetting is distinct from, but feeds into, the security clearance processes required by some State institutions.
To be clear, employers cannot seek Garda vetting simply from a desire to vet a prospective employee.
The job in question must be categorised as requiring this under the legislation.
Another common misperception is that gardaí contribute to the decision-making around hiring an individual. This is not the case.
Rather, gardaí complete a document that outlines a person’s criminal record, including pending prosecutions in Ireland and abroad.
Gardaí may also provide “specified information” (such as information gardaí hold about investigations that did not lead to a conviction) where the circumstances may “reasonably give rise to a bona fide concern” that the person may pose a risk to a child.
It is not a pass or fail system: The vetting disclosure gardaí provides allows employers to decide what do to based on the information.
In our research with employers, half of survey participants did not have specific policies or practices requiring disclosure of criminal convictions.
At the same time, Garda vetting and GDPR requirements are not clearly understood by all employers, or by people with convictions themselves.
As such, many employers are asking for individuals to disclose a conviction history at various points in the application and hiring processes, whether Garda vetting applies or not.
Yet, we argue that seeking disclosures of criminal backgrounds that do not fall under the provided legal definition for Garda vetting are also not compliant with GDPR legislation.
Our research on employment of people with convictions in Ireland shows that many employers are concerned about perceived, but unsubstantiated, risks associated with hiring people with convictions.
Examples broadly include concerns about reoffending intertwined with concerns for the safety and security of their business, customers, and other employees. Some specific concerns relate to the type of offence and perceived reputational risks to businesses if customers or employees found out.
Concerns about the risks associated with hiring people with convictions and an unspoken “hierarchy of offences” also came out in the news coverage about presidential candidate Catherine Connolly.
There seemed to be a need to justify that the person was not only well suited for the job, but exceptional.
Many discussions of the person highlighted their advanced academic achievements, perpetuating the idea that someone with a conviction needs to be exceptional to be employable.
According to one of our research participants, people with convictions may experience a “civil death” due to the idea that they “are viewed as bad people. Not people who made mistakes”.
They face multiple intersecting challenges, known as the “collateral consequences” of a criminal record.
Beyond employment, these consequences can include restricted access to housing, insurance, education, welfare, and travel, among others.
Stigma and shame profoundly impact people with convictions.
Criminologists have identified the importance of “redemptive narratives” — a self-narrative in which offending is no longer desirable and paints a positive outlook for the future. These are developed over many years but are not immune to setbacks.
They also benefit from protective factors. Gainful employment provides a “hook for change”, helping people with convictions build the strength to reintegrate into society and operating as a key milestone of progression.
Employers and people with convictions, and indeed the public, often operate in an information vacuum in this area and require accurate, accessible, evidence-based guidance.
However, many employers also express an openness to employing people with convictions but lack appropriate guidance.
We produced a toolkit for employers with the Open Doors Initiative, based on our previous research with the Irish Penal Reform Trust on employers and higher education institutions. Detailed, practical guidance is available on legal obligations, social and business contexts, and best practice in approaching and implementing fair and inclusive hiring for people with convictions.
Our recommendations for fairer, more inclusive hiring include limiting the use of background checks. We should use Garda vetting only in roles where it is necessary and appropriate.
Moreover, employers should seek to limit the use of broad background checks and have clear policies and practices that limit formal or informal searches of prospective employees’ histories.
Employment is a key factor on the desistance journey — defined as “the long-term abstinence from criminal behaviour among those for whom offending had become a pattern of behaviour” — and supports the development of an inclusive, fair, equal society.
The barriers faced by people with convictions are a secondary, often lifelong, punishment, in addition to their original sentence.
Through clear, fair, and evidence-based policies and practices, employers and people with convictions can be supported to break down these barriers and harness the redemptive and constructive power of employment in making society safer.
- Ciara Bracken-Roche is an assistant professor of criminology and Joe Garrihy is an associate professor of criminology at Maynooth University School of Law and Criminology
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
