Organizations must conduct a National Police Check on their employees. Here’s why

The role of an employer is not easy - the general responsibilities involve dealing with many possible risks. In addition to hiring the best talents and assessing their suitability in the organisation, an employer must be mindful of aspects such as workplace security, possible threats and the reputation of the company.

So, it is recommended for employers to familiarise themselves with reference and criminal history police checks to ensure the genuineness and clarify any records of convictions of potential candidates.

Some people may be concerned about traffic-related offences, but they must bear in mind that this offence may not be included in the police check certificate for Criminal History. For the states and territories holding those records, there is a specific traffic registration verification.

Similarly, the state also has its own laws to rule on sentences that have been “spent”. Legislation exists in all Australian States and Territories as well as the Commonwealth prohibiting the disclosure of certain older offences once a period of time has passed during which an offender has committed no further offences. This legislation is commonly known as 'spent conviction' legislation.

Depending on the state, a conviction can be spent for any of the following reasons: if the person is not sentenced for imprisonment or was not imprisoned for more than 30 months, the time of the sentence is more than ten years, (or in the case of juveniles five years), or the individual didn't re-offend during this period.

Each state has its own process in requesting a sentence to be spent or not. This is an automatic process in many countries, wherein in some countries the individual needs to submit a request. It is to be remembered that not all convictions are spent. Only minor sentences will be eliminated from history, but major convictions like murder or assaults are never spent.

Employees need not worry that an employer might conduct a Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check without their permission. As per the law, the police clearance check cannot be done without the consent of the applicant. Not only that, the concerned applicant must provide consent by providing a signature that matches their identity documents, which will have to be provided as well for the police check to process.

Previously the Police check used to be conducted manually, through a paper-based form. But the manual process wasn't flawless. The Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) has accredited organisations to conduct police checks. Nowadays, the application can be processed through secure web-based technology. It is a 100% online process. In this new online process, the response time is much faster, as well as the applying process is very convenient.

As an employer, one must take necessary measures to protect the business from potential threats like theft, cyber-crime, office violence. It will also help in familiarising with a candidate's criminal history if any. As an employer, it will be easier to decide if hiring an applicant with a criminal history is worth the risk. For more information on how Police check works, See :- National Police Check

Use other security measures in office

An organisation faces threats, both internally and externally. A police check can help an organisation detect some if any possible internal threats. Besides a Police check, as an employer, one can take the help of other physical security measures like computer network protection, intrusion detectors, etc. These are necessary measures for your organisation to decrease the risk of external danger.

Conclusion

Someone in the company may have a criminal history, and the employer may not know about it. An external force can take advantage of risk ignorance and blackmail any employee into committing a crime against the company.

Everyone is afraid to lose a job, and it is easy to manipulate someone who already holds a criminal history. A Police check can help reveal certain information and trust can be built based on frank disclosure of the truth from employees.

Requesting a Police check is a 100% online process nowadays. Hire an accredited body of the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission and get the job done!