Recruiters and employers are missing out on a vital source of candidates because of discrimination against ex-offenders, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) has warned.

Over 30% of men under 30 have a criminal conviction, but few employers knowingly recruit ex-offenders because of prejudice, said former personnel director Neil Wallace, speaking at the CIPD conference Parole to Payroll.

Employing ex-offenders makes business sense, speakers urged. Sue Jago, Home Office leader of the review of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act commented: “The criminal record is just one more piece of paper for the recruiter to consider – nothing more and nothing less.”

The Home Office is considering reducing disclosure periods – the time within which a crime must be made known to employers.

Bobby Cummines, chief executive of Unlock, criticised the ignorance of recruiters: “Employers are setting themselves up as judge, jury and executioner by allowing their prejudice against known ex-offenders to prevent them being considered for a job.”

Job specifications may actually conceal discrimination, said Lord Haskins, former chairman of the Better Regulation Task Force. Employers over-emphasise qualifications, he said, which means job specs are often needlessly over-prescriptive.

Recruitment consultancy mbA Training Research Development has launched a pilot project to get ex-offenders back into work, including work placement schemes for former prisoners. It has already placed 13 ex-offenders. Getting a ‘real person’ in front of an employer often helps overcome prejudice, said Richard Hobday.