Recruitment background checks
In Badara v Pulse Healthcare Ltd, the Employment Appeal Tribunal held that the employer should not have relied solely on negative Home Office checks when it dismissed the employee for failing to provide right to work documentation.
In R (on the application of P) v Secretary of State for the Home Department and other appeals, the Supreme Court held that the criminal record checks rule requiring disclosure where a person has more than one conviction, regardless of the circumstances of the offences, is incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights.
In Francis-McGann v West Atlantic UK Ltd, the employment tribunal ordered a pilot to repay £4,725 in training costs after it emerged that he provided a fake reference using the name of a character from Star Wars.
In R (on the application of AR) v Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police and another, the Supreme Court held that, although the disclosure of the appellant's acquittal for rape was an interference with his human rights, it was justified. However, the Court expressed concern at the lack of guidance for employers on how to deal with disclosures of serious criminal charges that result in acquittals.
In South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust v Lee and others, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) held that a decision to withdraw a job offer that was at least partially influenced by a reference that focused on the applicant's sickness absence levels was discriminatory.
The High Court has upheld a challenge by way of judicial review to the present criminal record checks scheme, finding that the relevant statutory provisions are incompatible with the European Convention of Human Rights. Ryan Stringer sets out the implications of the decision for employers.
The Supreme Court has held that the requirement in criminal record checks to disclose all convictions and cautions, including those given for minor offences and crimes committed as a child, breaches the European Convention on Human Rights.
This tribunal case is an example of a situation dreaded by recruiters: finding out that a recruit lied on his or her CV.
The Court of Appeal has held that the system for the disclosure of individuals' criminal records to employers breaches the European Convention on Human Rights.
In Cheltenham Borough Council v Laird [2009] IRLR 621 HC, the High Court dismissed claims that a former employee had fraudulently or negligently failed to disclose information about her health in a pre-employment questionnaire. She had answered the questions accurately and truthfully, and as a reasonable lay person with her medical history would have answered them.
Employment law cases: HR and legal information and guidance relating to recruitment background checks.