Police checks are an important part of the employment process. Aside from qualifications and employment history, a police check lets an employer know a little bit more about their potential employees. For current employees, police checks can keep an employer up to date on the criminal history of their staff during their tenure with the company.
Police checks are important criminal background checks that help an employer decide if an employee is suitable for the role they are applying for or are currently undertaking. While having a criminal history does not automatically deem an employee unfit, depending on the role and the industry, certain crimes can cause concern. Having a criminal history can affect employment, specifically in industries that deal with the elderly, children, or money handling.
A police check is not required by law for employment in most industries, and even this varies from state to state. With that being said, it is also not illegal to require employees to undergo routine background checks both before and during employment. Because most people do not know what a police check entails, undergoing one can be a process filled with uncertainty. Some worry that traffic infractions will show up, others fear that their spent convictions may somehow be displayed, and so on. However, police checks are here to let employers get to know their staff better and should not be seen as a bad thing.
By getting a police check, you can rest assured knowing that your staff are adequately equipped to handle their duties, and there is a very low risk of any money mismanagement and foul play on the job.
An employer can do police checks for their employees. However, the employer cannot conduct a background check on behalf of their employee or prospective employee. The employer’s authority stops at registration, which means that they can start the process and streamline it but legally cannot make an employee complete this process against their will.
When using CrimCheck, employers can sign up for a business account with us, which will allow them to order police checks for all their employees (and/or prospective employees) and track, order, and manage all police checks on their portal. The employer can order a police check on an employee, and then the employee must complete the rest of the police check application.
For an employer to process a police check, they will need the consent of the individual(s) that the check is for. An individual’s criminal history is private information, and the Australian government takes every precaution to ensure it is not widely shared, and no
checks are undertaken without the consent of the individual in question. Employers risk legal action if they purposefully violate Australia’s Privacy Act and process a police check without the employee’s consent.
Police Checks are useful documents that help the employer assess a candidate beyond qualifications and surface-level experience. It also puts everyone’s mind at ease knowing that they are not potentially hiring candidates that have a past of indictable crimes, specifically serious offences that would make a candidate unsuitable for the role.
By streamlining police checks for your employees, you can quickly and easily get your police checks in and have them stored on a reliable database to go back and view or update them as needed. It is also safer than relying on an employee to provide their own police check and more authentic as you are using an accredited criminal history check service provider.
When you allow an employee or applicant to provide their own background check, you run the risk of being victim to their dishonesty. This is not to say that everyone is dishonest. However, to ensure that you get an official police check document and not a forged counterfeit, it is best to use a streamlined, safe, and reliable service like CrimCheck. By using our business portal, you can order, manage, and view the police checks of all of your employees hassle-free.
Relying on the employee or candidate can also slow down the process of obtaining a police check. Depending on what service they choose to use, how prompt they are at processing their application, and whether or not they make mistakes, their police checks results can be delayed. This can negatively affect an employer who desperately needs to clear their staff to work in certain occupations. With CrimCheck, you can monitor everything online and see if an employee has finished their required section.
As an organisation or other business entity, you can access your CrimCheck account online and at any time. This is useful to check the progress of an application or to go back and look at an already completed police check. Updating an applicant’s records also becomes much simpler with our easy to use portal.
Once the results of the check have been released, you can use them to inform your decision on the individual’s suitability for the role. The police check will show every disclosable court outcome, including convictions, pending court charges, guilty verdicts, and suspended sentences. If the individual does not have a criminal history, the check will show an NDCO or ‘no disclosable court outcomes’.
However, not all offences may show up on a credit check. Under the spent convictions scheme, a conviction that is more than ten years old and meets certain criteria will be spent (removed) from a police check in most cases. Convictions that occurred in another country, traffic infringements, and dropped charges will also not show up on a police check.
StreamLine Police Check for Your Employees With Crimcheck
CrimCheck’s Police Check for Businesses service is your best option for fast and reliable employee criminal history checks. Everything can be done either online or over the phone, and all information will be stored on your portal, allowing you to manage it whenever from anywhere you like. To find out more about our services and how we can help your business, visit our website today and leave an enquiry.
"I have been using CrimCheck for some years now and I have had nothing but great service from the system and staff. I would recommend CrimCheck to anyone wanting an efficient, user-friendly service."
Andrea, St. Luke's Anglicare
