Supporting documents at application stage

[MollyO]

I am applying for work, and one application (for a janitorial cleaning type position) has asked for copies of the following documents to be sent along with the application. It seems to me that these are things which can be requested at the interview stage, but is it legal for the employer to require them at the application stage? It seems sketchy to me, and I'm reluctant to do so for various reasons, including the potential for identity theft if the documents are misplaced or misused. If it is not legal, is there a body or organization I should report them to?

 

"Please include copies of the following documents along with your application form:

 

• Passport
  
• Drivers Licence
  
• 2 Recent Utility Bills
  
• 2 Employers References
  
• SIA Licence if applicable
  
• Visa ( right to work permit if applicable)"
  

[citizenB]

Hmm, I would be a bit concerned with providing that type of documentation - especially today when companies dont have the decency to respond to applications if you are unsuccessful.

[MollyO]

Well, quite. I certainly don't intend to, especially for a low-rent job like this. I was just wondering if there is any kind of law against requiring such things at this stage, and who to report them to if there is.

[citizenB]

I will flag your thread for other site team members - see if they have any ideas.

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

It is to establish the applicants right to work in the UK.

[assisted blonde]

Quite common in this type of work as there are a lot of foreign workers employed and as Brig says its to establish the right to work in the uk

[MollyO]

As I said, I am willing to bring copies of these things to an interview to provide such a demonstration. To ask for them at the application stage is a recipe for data protection disaster IMO. Especially since the only thing with my name on it that could pass as a "utility bill" would be a bank statement.

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

You are not being asked to provide all of these documents, imo there is no problem here.

[citizenB]

 

"Please include copies of the following documents along with your application form:

 

• Passport
  
• Drivers Licence
  
• 2 Recent Utility Bills
  
• 2 Employers References
  
• SIA Licence if applicable
  
• Visa ( right to work permit if applicable)"
  

 

You are not being asked to provide all of these documents, imo there is no problem here.

 

Brig, I read that as to provide copies of all of them.. I am assuming MollyO has copied directly and it states quite clearly..

 

Please include copies of the following documents along with your application form:

[alex62]

If your worried do it by recorded delivery, for the position your applying for you will also need an enhanced disclousure.

[Pusillanimous]

I would not send them. Offer to bring them in person, so you can stand there and wait while they photocopy them.

[MollyO]

Brig, I read that as to provide copies of all of them.. I am assuming MollyO has copied directly and it states quite clearly..

 

Please include copies of the following documents along with your application form:

 

You're correct, I pasted it exactly as written.

[MollyO]

If your worried do it by recorded delivery, for the position your applying for you will also need an enhanced disclousure.

 

Why would I need an enhanced disclosure for a janitorial job?

 

I'm not mad keen on applying for this job anyway, since when I wrote to the given email address requesting more information, all I got was the same autoresponse with the application again -- no job description, no answers to my questions regarding the position. It's not worth it for such a low-rent position.

 

What I still want to know is if it's truly kosher for them to be requiring all these extremely personal documents at the application stage.

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

2 if applicable there??

 

This requirement is very common and will usually require an enhanced CRB check as well thousands of applications need this!

It will be because of the type of premises that an applicant may be required to work in.

[MollyO]

Enhanced CRB for cleaning toilets and floors on a college campus? Do they really expect people applying for a minimum-wage janitor job to provide their own disclosure? I suppose that's one way to cut down on the number of people applying. In any case, the job description and application don't say anything about that, and they don't seem inclined to answer requests for further information, so I don't know if that will be a requirement in the end. What I'm asking about is the things they definitely are asking for.

 

For the many, many jobs I've applied for over the past couple of years, I have never, ever seen any ask for all these personal documents before reaching the interview stage -- even for those jobs which did require a disclosure in advance. Some places didn't even ask for them then. With hundreds of people applying for every available position, what happens if they lose track of some of these personal documents that are flooding in? Can anyone point me to any legislation or documentation on the subject of what's an acceptable requirement for supporting documents at this stage?

 

"2 if applicable there??"

 

So two of the listed documents are only to be provided if one actually has them, sure, but they still expect all the others regardless, and that sends up warning flags to me. I'm not sending copies of my passport, license and bank statements (the only "utility bills" I have with my name on them) or my immigration document to a company that won't even answer my questions about the proposed job. Nobody else, not even the Ministry of Justice, made such a demand.

[Atlas01]

when successive governments have flooded the country with unskilled labour to decimate the lower wage line companies know that for every one of you there are a thousand who will stump up without question as you have already indicated.

 

decent employers would ask after interview for these things but goto my first point

 

I'd also consider your attitude to working with minors and the ECRB because you won't get through the door without one

[MollyO]

for every one of you there are a thousand who will stump up without question as you have already indicated. decent employers would ask after interview for these things but goto my first point

 

I guess they'll have to do with one of them, then.

 

I'd also consider your attitude to working with minors and the ECRB because you won't get through the door without one

 

Sorry, I don't see where I've said anything about my attitude to working with minors, or how it applies in this case. Could you explain what you mean by that? I've got no problem in principle with getting an ECRB either, I just don't see why it would be necessary for a janitorial position in a college.

[Atlas01]

because under safeguarding your classed javing access to minors if you work in a school,college,fe and are just around the students, i wasn't having a go at you just trying to get across the fact your idea of what is needed in an educational establishment is the complete opposite of how any employer would see it.

[MollyO]

Okay, but that still doesn't address the question of why all these personal documents are required so early in the application process, especially when other jobs dealing even more directly with minors or sensitive information or whatnot have not asked for them at this stage.

[steampowered]

It sounds like they are trying to quicken the process. If you are concerned you could contact them or perhaps send your application with a covering note saying you can provide all these documents if required.

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

Many public organisation have been heavily criticised for employing illegal immigrants and or those not entitled to work in the UK, even a major orgaisation supply staff to a military establishment was caught out by not making rigourous checks, so all now are making deeper checks and quire rightly so imo.

[MollyO]

Steampowered: I did try to contact them, but only got an autoresponse with the application attached. I'm thinking it's not worth the hassle and concern for the kind of job on offer. I'm only trying to find out if there are any rules about what they can and can't require at the application stage. Does anybody here know?

 

Brigadier: As I have repeatedly said, I have no problem whatsoever with them confirming my eligibility to work in the UK. What I have a problem with is them demanding all these very personal documents at the outset. Especially since the application itself asks if one is eligible. If the answer is "yes", then supporting evidence can be requested at the interview stage if one fulfills all the other requirements for the position. This is how every single other employer has done it in my experience thus far.

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

A prospective employer can require anything they feel is necessary to the slection process, also it cuts out time wasters to turn up at interviews with out the documents required and expect o be interviewed.!!

 

So an organisation does something different to save time and money!!

[MollyO]

Anything, really? Money, gifts, firstborn children?

[Sidewinder]

Agree with the earlier posts. There are no strict rules on precisely WHEN a prospective employer should inspect and retain documents, merely that this should be BEFORE employing somebody. It sounds as though the organisation concerned are trying to avoid a log jam in terms of trying to get these documents after an offer of employment is made, and also trying to avoid the risk of wasting time interviewing candidates only to then find that the paperwork is not available.