PeopleCheck recently received a result from a candidate’s Police Check undertaken for a manufacturing client indicating that the candidate was recently released from prison after a life sentence for murder! The candidate had informed our client that “something may come up”, but did not disclose the details of their criminal past. Needless to say our client was shocked when they received our call informing them of the result.
Every now and then a perfect case study comes along that reminds us why PeopleCheck exists and how important it is for organisations to have background checking in place for all types of roles.
In order to effectively process cases with any adverse background checking results, we recommend that our clients develop strong internal processes, particularly for Police Checks. Factors to consider include the type of offence, the relevance of the offence to the role and industry, how long ago the offence was committed, the result of the offence, the severity of the penalty and the age of the subject at the time the conviction was recorded. An interesting read on the topic of discrimination based on criminal record is “On The Record”, issued by the Australian Human Rights Commission.