So 4 years ago I resigned from a public sector job after I was charged with some public order offences- drunk and disorderly and aggravated harassment. I’m deeply ashamed of it, I was in the depths of alocholism – that’s not an excuse. I’ve done everything in my power since to amend what did. I’m now sober and clean and have been since then. I was arrested ,then suspended and I resigned once charged (some four months later).
I found a new job sector adjacent- and for a private company which didn’t ask for a CRB or criminal record check.
My arrest and subsequent barring from the regulatory body made press some two years into my job, no one asked and they didn’t find out. No one has asked about any criminal records, it’s spent now anyway. But there is stuff in HR policy about an arrest at any time which impedes you from doing the job is dismissible.
The CEO of the organisation I was working at at the time of my arrest and suspension works quite closely with the company I work for now. I’ve had email correspondence with him regarding the work both companies do together.
I have a meeting – via teams – with him next week and I’m shitting it in case he recognises me/informs my current employer- essentially possibly resulting in me losing my job.
I could ask my colleague to cover the meeting for me. But my question is would you join the meeting ? What would you we wary of in this situation?
Sorry if this is not the right sub- i tried to ask UK jobs but as this is a throw away account I didn’t have the karma.
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Say your camera is not working lol
Gosh, that sounds like a really stressful situation. If it were me, I wouldn’t attend the meeting. I’d make an excuse but more importantly, ensure somebody else attends on your behalf.
Give the HR policy stance, it just isn’t worth risking.
CEOs meet a lot of people. You’re not a significant person in his life. You’re not the only person who’s resigned for personal legal problems. (Ever seen Burn After Reading, bosses deal with shit).
I would still probably pull the “connection is awful today so I’m turning off camera”. But I’d think it’s highly unlikely he would either recognise you or do anything if he did.
I work for HR
Honestly, dont join.
If you are recognised people may feel oblidged to follow policy, even if it is against their better nature.
If meeting with your old ceo is not a common practice, then stay away and don’t bring trouble to yourself.
Even in HR we can’t always save the people we want to save.
“An arrest at any time which impedes you from doing the job is dismissible”
My interpretation is that your previous arrest isn’t impeding you from doing your job.
An example where it would is if you were arrested on suspicion of murder, and held in custody for 36 hours, and so you missed work, then that arrest would impede you doing your job.
Perhaps try r/LegalAdviceUK with the exact wording of the HR Policy
OP marked this as the best answer, given by /u/Feeling_Bench8719.
> I work for HR
>
> Honestly, dont join.
>
> If you are recognised people may feel oblidged to follow policy, even if it is against their better nature.
>
> If meeting with your old ceo is not a common practice, then stay away and don’t bring trouble to yourself.
>
> Even in HR we can’t always save the people we want to save.
^(What is this?)
I might be misunderstanding but if you’ve been emailing with him already, how has he not recognise your name?
“But there is stuff in HR policy about an arrest at any time which impedes you from doing the job is dismissible.”
Apart from the obvious ‘if you get arrested and it prevents you from attending work you get fired’, the only thing that would make me worry about this line is if your previous arrest would legally prevent you from doing the job you are doing now.
As for the meeting, there is a chance your former CEO recognises your name from the email address but hasn’t done anything to jeopardise your current employment, but as other have said, attend the meeting but with an unexpected camera fault.
Congrats on your sobriety!
My last drink was July 11th 2012!
Suits: Season 5, Episode 8.
I’d make an excuse not to join the meeting or if you absolutely have to join and then your cam off if anybody asks why say your at a friends house or sick
While I don’t think anything would happen, I’d personally not take the risk and if you can get someone to cover it, I would do and find a way to bail on the meeting
Not my sector, but as part of the journey of growth in life, I’d face the problem head on.
Yes it might jeopardise your job, and that’s part of the consequences of your actions.
This is all on your situation at home if things go sideways, how much of an issue will it be if it does go wrong, but you can’t run away or hide from it all your life. What if they find out after you tried covering it up? It looks even worse.
You’ll feel better for confronting this head on whether it goes fine or not.
I know I would personally trust someone more who had the integrity to own their shit than someone trying to fake it out.
Best of luck with whatever route you decide on 👍🏽
You’d be better off asking /r/legaladviceuk, but, under the rehabilitation of offenders act, I don’t think you can be dismissed for a spent conviction unless it’s a sensitive industry (education, social care, healthcare, national security, financial services or justice), but those jobs would have required an enhanced DBS check before you started and your offence would have to be relevant to that field, so your drunk and disorderly couldn’t disqualify you from a financial services job, but it probably could from a job in social care.
As long as you’ve been with your new employer for more than 2 years, you’re completely safe and, if they do sack you after finding out, you’ll have a big juicy lawsuit against them.
Pull a sicky. Can’t beat a cheeky sicky