What does ‘spent’ mean on a criminal record? Here’s what employers need to know
Some criminal records are no longer relevant to hiring decisions — and you’re not even allowed to ask about them.
These are known as spent convictions. But unless you’re in legal or compliance, the rules around what’s spent, what’s not, and when you can ask about it often get overlooked or misunderstood.
That can lead to problems: unfair rejections, legal risk, or simply wasting time asking for things you shouldn’t.
If your hiring forms still ask about “any convictions” — or if you’re unsure what you’re actually allowed to see — this article is for you.
What does ‘spent’ actually mean?
When a conviction becomes spent, it’s considered legally irrelevant for most job applications.
This means:
- You cannot ask about it on a form
- The candidate doesn’t have to tell you
- It won’t appear on a Basic DBS check
- You’re not allowed to use it in a hiring decision
This rule comes from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, which was created to help people move on from past offences — especially minor or historic ones — without facing lifelong stigma.
When does a conviction become spent?
It depends on:
- The sentence type (fine, community order, prison time)
- How long ago it happened
- Whether the person has reoffended
- Whether they were under 18 at the time
Here are some examples based on official guidance and Unlock’s breakdown:
If the person stays out of trouble, the conviction is considered spent once the time’s up.
Can I ever ask about spent convictions?
Only if the job is legally exempt from the ROA.
That includes:
- Roles involving direct work with children or vulnerable adults
- Healthcare jobs (e.g. nurses, paramedics)
- Legal, financial, or security-sensitive positions
These roles are listed under the Exceptions Order to the ROA. If your job doesn’t appear there, you can’t ask about spent convictions. Full stop.
For these exempt roles, a Standard or Enhanced DBS check is allowed — and spent convictions will show up (unless they’ve been filtered — more on that below).
What about unspent convictions?
If a conviction is still unspent, you can ask about it — but only if it’s relevant to the role.
Here’s where many employers go wrong. Just because something is legally disclosable doesn’t mean it’s fair or useful to reject someone over it.
A 5-year-old shoplifting caution may not matter in a warehouse job. A driving ban from 3 years ago probably matters more for a delivery role than a desk-based one. Context matters.
The ICO’s guidance is clear: you must treat criminal record data fairly, proportionately, and with sensitivity.
Can I rely on DBS checks to see this?
- Basic DBS check → shows unspent convictions only
- Standard or Enhanced DBS check → shows spent + unspent convictions
(only allowed for legally exempt roles)
And even then, some convictions or cautions won’t show up at all — even on an Enhanced check. That’s because of filtering.
What is filtering — and how is it different from being spent?
Filtering is a separate rule under DBS law. It removes certain old and minor offences from DBS certificates automatically — even if they’re still legally disclosable.
For example:
- A single caution from over 6 years ago (or 2 years if the person was under 18) is likely filtered
- A single conviction from over 11 years ago (or 5.5 years if under 18) may be filtered — depending on the offence
You’re not allowed to ask about filtered offences. If a candidate discloses one voluntarily, you must treat it as if it doesn’t exist.
Full DBS filtering guidance is available here.
Common mistakes employers still make
- Asking for “any and all convictions” on job forms
- Using outdated templates that don’t reflect ROA changes
- Treating spent or filtered offences as relevant when they’re not
- Rejecting candidates over old records without assessing context
Even if the candidate discloses something, if it’s spent or filtered — and the role isn’t exempt — you cannot use that information to influence a hiring decision.
What to do instead
- Use accurate wording: “Do you have any unspent criminal convictions?”
- Know which roles are legally exempt — and only request higher-level DBS checks when eligible
- Train hiring managers to understand spent vs. unspent — especially in frontline recruitment
- When in doubt, don’t guess — check with your DBS provider or the official eligibility tool
Need the full breakdown? Download the guide now.
A Practical Guide to UK Criminal Record Checks for Employers
This is just one piece of the puzzle.
If you want to get criminal checks right from end to end — eligibility, interpretation, storage, compliance — we’ve broken it down in a single, easy-to-use guide.
A resource for HR, compliance, and hiring teams across the UK.
Read More
%20(1).webp)
.webp)
.webp)
FAQs
FAQs
This depends on the industry and type of role you are recruiting for. To determine whether you need reference checks, identity checks, bankruptcy checks, civil background checks, credit checks for employment or any of the other background checks we offer, chat to our team of dedicated account managers.
Many industries have compliance-related employment check requirements. And even if your industry doesn’t, remember that your staff have access to assets and data that must be protected. When you employ a new staff member you need to be certain that they have the best interests of your business at heart. Carrying out comprehensive background checking helps mitigate risk and ensures a safer hiring decision.
Again, this depends on the type of checks you need. Simple identity checks can be carried out in as little as a few hours but a worldwide criminal background check for instance might take several weeks. A simple pre-employment check package takes around a week. Our account managers are specialists and can provide detailed information into which checks you need and how long they will take.
All Veremark checks are carried out online and digitally. This eliminates the need to collect, store and manage paper documents and information making the process faster, more efficient and ensures complete safety of candidate data and documents.
In a competitive marketplace, making the right hiring decisions is key to the success of your company. Employment background checks enables you to understand more about your candidates before making crucial decisions which can have either beneficial or catastrophic effects on your business.
Background checks not only provide useful insights into a candidate’s work history, skills and education, but they can also offer richer detail into someone’s personality and character traits. This gives you a huge advantage when considering who to hire. Background checking also ensures that candidates are legally allowed to carry out certain roles, failed criminal and credit checks could prevent them from working with vulnerable people or in a financial function.
Trusted by the world's best workplaces
APPROVED BY INDUSTRY EXPERTS
.png)
.png)
and Loved by reviewers
Transform your hiring process
Request a discovery session with one of our background screening experts today.
