PREVIOUS CONVICTIONS OF JOB APPLICANTS

Mr J.B. Jeyaretnam asked the Minister for Home Affairs if the Criminal Record s Office makes available to prospective employers in the private sector information on previous convictions of applicants for employment and if it does the circumstances in which this information is made available, e.g. is there a limit in the intervening time beyond which the information would not be made available.

Prof. S. Jayakumar (Acting Minister for Home Affairs): The provisions of the Registration of Criminals Act (Cap 119) empower the Police to maintain the criminal records of persons. Under this Act, there is no limit to the period for which a person's criminal records are kept.

The Criminal Records Office of the Police does not disclose criminal records to prospective employers in the private sector, unless the employment has security implications or potential for the commission of crimes. Examples are employment in the petroleum companies whose operations are vital to the economy and therefore require stringent security control, and of certain categories of hotel employees who have easy access to the rooms of hotel guests. In such cases, the prospective employers are cautioned that the information supplied to them are strictly on a confidential basis.