You're close to describing the England and Wales system. Cautions and convictions are generally considered 'spent' after a certain amount of time (immediately o

You're close to describing the England and Wales system. Cautions and convictions are generally considered 'spent' after a certain amount of time (immediately or a few months/years, depending on the offence and punishment). For most jobs, they are allowed to ask about convictions, but you only need to tell them about unspent offences. You don't need to tell them about spent offences, and they won't show up on a basic criminal records check. Spent convictions only show up in the standard/enhanced criminal records check, and employers may only request access to these for certain roles (for example, working with children or in healthcare). Further, "[i]t's against the law for an employer, university or college to refuse you a role because you've got a spent conviction or caution, unless it makes you unsuitable for the role. For example, a driving conviction might make you unsuitable for a job as a driving instructor". https://www.gov.uk/tell-employer-or-college-about-criminal-record/what-information-you-need-to-give https://www.gov.uk/tell-employer-or-college-about-criminal-r...