Crb ?

Savvy_Sue

PolishBigSpender wrote: »

Something I can't understand about the CRB system in the UK.

I made a decision when in the UK to have all our staff CRB checked - not because they were working with vulnerable people, but rather that we wanted to make sure that there was nothing unsavory in their background. Any conviction for fraud for instance would have been thoroughly investigated.

So, a CRB check was done against me as a Polish national. Understandably, absolutely nothing came up - although this was an 'enhanced' disclosure. I've been convicted of speeding in Poland and I'm led to believe that with an enhanced disclosure, even speeding convictions will show up.

Given all this, isn't the system somewhat useless when dealing with people from another country?

Yes, pretty much. Also I'm not sure whether all UK driving convictions show: my 3 points didn't on my Enhance Disclosure, as far as I remember.

However, I didn't realise an employer could get checks carried out just because they wanted to be sure there was nothing unsavoury in anyone's background. I should be in bed, but a quick scan of their website shows:

The two CRB checks are available in cases where an employer is entitled to ask exempted questions under the Exceptions Order to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (ROA) 1974. This includes any organisation whose staff or volunteers work with children or vulnerable adults. They are issued free to volunteers.

(my emphasis). I can't find any guidance on why an employer would be entitled to ask such questions. Obviously it's wider than just working with children or vulnerable adults, but I don't want people to think that employers can ask for CRBs just because they want to.

PolishBigSpender

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

Yes, pretty much. Also I'm not sure whether all UK driving convictions show: my 3 points didn't on my Enhance Disclosure, as far as I remember.

I was told they did, though it was long enough ago that I can't recall if it was all driving convictions or merely more serious ones.

However, I didn't realise an employer could get checks carried out just because they wanted to be sure there was nothing unsavoury in anyone's background. I should be in bed, but a quick scan of their website shows:

I can't find any guidance on why an employer would be entitled to ask such questions. Obviously it's wider than just working with children or vulnerable adults, but I don't want people to think that employers can ask for CRBs just because they want to.

I didn't directly deal with it, so I don't know what circumstances we applied for them. Looking at the site, I agree - it looks like we shouldn't have been able to do such a thing, but clearly we did. I worked for a biological research facility which offered a placement scheme for young people - perhaps this is what it came under?

From the CIPD site -

Enhanced Disclosure (ED) - available for those applying for positions involving regular care for, training, supervising or being in sole charge of young people, for certain statutory licensing purposes and judicial appointments. An ED will contain similar information to the SD and will include local police records, such as relevant non-conviction information - an application for an ED must be countersigned by a registered person.

We were involved with work experience individuals from 14-18, so I assume this is why we were eligible for the checks. I'll e-mail my old boss and ask - he dealt with the CRB checks as I was merely an HR assistant and wasn't familiar enough with the UK at the time. I made the decision to get the checks done, but I wasn't involved with the actual processing of them.

It is quite possible that the checks were done in an underhanded way too - I wouldn't put it past the company to bribe someone in order to get things processed.

I wish we had something similar here actually - I run a similar scheme where children can come and learn practical biology on Saturday's. It's designed to attract more talented individuals into the field, yet I find myself worrying that I haven't been able to check the criminal records of the people working with the children. It's all based on trust - and yes, I have comprehensively checked out the history of the individuals, but there's just no way to know that they have a clean record without them telling me so.

Savvy_Sue

You can't even rely on them telling you so. If you know that you wouldn't get a job if you admitted to a criminal record, why would you say you had one?

PolishBigSpender

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

You can't even rely on them telling you so. If you know that you wouldn't get a job if you admitted to a criminal record, why would you say you had one?

It depends - until recently, many people had a criminal record dating from the time of the Communist regime. There was a law brought in however which basically declared all the convictions during that time to be illegal - so everyone was pardoned.

But I would still hope and expect that anyone coming to me would declare their convictions during that time. In fact, I would be rather angry if I discovered that someone had willfully failed to disclose a conviction from that time.