Data law: New fines on the way

Tuesday 6th May 2008, 12:00AM BST.

BUSINESSES could be prosecuted for forcing prospective employees to reveal spent convictions in future.

At the end of last year, Data Protection Commissioner Emma Martins said that companies were flouting the law by forcing potential recruits to reveal their entire criminal records, including old convictions considered ‘spent’ under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Law that did not technically have to be disclosed.

She said people had lost out on jobs because they were forced to reveal old convictions to their prospective employers.

The full Data Protection Law will be enacted at the end of this year, including an article imposing a fine of up to £5,000 for forcing prospective employees to disclose spent convictions.

View more: Data Protection Law news.