Pre-employment checks after starting employment

[GaryStevenson]

Hi,

 

I started working for a large energy supplier on the 3rd June 2013, on the 3rd July I received an email asking me to complete some pre-employment checks, which I found strange considering both myself and the company signed my contract of employment in May.

 

I have a poor credit history and can almost guarantee that I will fail a Credit Check, which they are carrying out on me.

 

Where do I stand on this if I do indeed fail the check and I lose my job?

 

I am still in my probationary period with the company, but whilst there has been no performance issues, I feel they may use the credit check result to terminate my employment.

 

Cheers

 

Gary

[fkofilee]

A credit check for employment is different to a credit check for a product.

They check things like bankruptcy etc, and not on your affordability to pay.

 

The information they see is different to potential companies looking to sell / loan you things etc

[GaryStevenson]

Would CCJ's fall under that category?

[SweetLorraine]

Apparently CCJs can form part of such checks.

 

http://www.ukemployeechecks.co.uk/pre-employment-screening/employee-credit-checks.

 

I wouldn't have thought that it follows that having a CCJ necessarily means you will lose your job. Were there questions in the application process about credit history, criminial convictions etc;

[GaryStevenson]

There was no application form as such. I was approached by a recruitment agency as the type of work I do is fairly specialist.

 

I received an offer of employment subject to pre-employment checks, gave copies of my passport & utility bills and then signed my line on the contract. A few days passed and I received the contract back signed by the company.

 

It appears that it is company specific rather than some FSA guidelines.

 

I have no dealings with any finance or customer data so hopefully it shouldn't be an issue. I've openly admitted to having financial hardship in the past on the pre-employment checks form.

[BazzaS]

There was no application form as such. I was approached by a recruitment agency as the type of work I do is fairly specialist.

 

I received an offer of employment subject to pre-employment checks, gave copies of my passport & utility bills and then signed my line on the contract. A few days passed and I received the contract back signed by the company.

 

It appears that it is company specific rather than some FSA guidelines.

 

I have no dealings with any finance or customer data so hopefully it shouldn't be an issue. I've openly admitted to having financial hardship in the past on the pre-employment checks form.

 

If you have no dealings with any finance or customer data I'd suggest taking the approach of:

 

A) you have had financial hardship in the past, but have been open & honest about it

B) you pose no risk to customers or the organisation's data security

C) because you've been open & honest you aren't a risk for being "blackmailed" over your financial history.

 

This should not flag you as "high risk"

[elche]

Hi,

 

I started working for a large energy supplier on the 3rd June 2013, on the 3rd July I received an email asking me to complete some pre-employment checks, which I found strange considering both myself and the company signed my contract of employment in May.

 

Well as a short-service employee if they did decide to dismiss for this, then unfortunately your rights to bring any type of claim would be, beyond a claim to notice pay, slim in the extreme (unfortunately being in debt and having a poor credit history is not a protected characteristic!).

 

Let's hope they don't do that, and if they are really doing 'this' properly you should have a chance to state your case and if so BazzaS' approach seems the one to take.

 

Che