How to have a Good Criminal History Check Hiring Policy

Safety in the workplace comes in many forms and one way employers can guarantee a good work environment for everyone is to use criminal history checks as part of their hiring policy. And it’s also good for the company itself as a complex vetting program of all job applicants can significantly reduce employee turnover, which ultimately translates as higher productivity and more profit. It’s as simple as that.

Making background checks part of your hiring policy

Not all Australian companies are required by law to do background checks on their employees. While for certain jobs, like working with children or caring for the elderly, thorough background checks are mandatory, for many other types of jobs it is up to the employer if they want to check the candidates’ criminal history.

When you decide police checks should be required for all your present or future employees, you should be very straightforward about it. It’s best to explain to your employees why such background checks are beneficial, for them and for the company.

This background check requirement should also be mentioned in all future job opening postings. The vast majority of eligible candidates won’t be bothered in any way, as most people do not have a criminal record to worry about.

On the other hand, keep in mind that, under Australian law, you should always ask for consent before doing a background check on someone. At the same time, don’t forget that it is illegal to turn down an application based on the candidate’s criminal record if the offences they committed are in no way relevant to the position they’d have in your company.

Making background checks a mere formality

Everybody hates red tape and wasting time to get a document, even more so those who know they don’t have a criminal record and don’t understand why they need to prove that. Given an option, a person might choose the company that is less demanding and doesn’t waste their time with useless papers.

Asking job applicants to go down to their local police station and fill in all sorts of forms for your background check is an inconvenience, to say the least.

The best option is to start working with an online character agency like Australian national character check or CV Check, a reliable body accredited with the government, which can provide 100% accurate background checks with no inconvenience whatsoever to your potential employees. Make it just another formality.

Once they consent to the background check, have them provide their basic identity information and a recent photo, a selfie will do in most cases. All the information can be uploaded to the agency’s portal in a matter of minutes and you’ll have the police check results sent via email in a couple of days.

If the criminal record comes back clean, it’s just a document to add to the employee’s file. However, if the police check brings to light certain past offences this is something you need to discuss with the prospective employee and then you can decide if they’re worth hiring or not.