Organisations
have been warned they could face significant delays when recruiting new staff
responsible for children or vulnerable adults if they do not register with the
Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) by the New Year.
Currently
employers such as NHS trusts can check the criminal records of prospective
members of staff through the police, but from March next year the service will
be carried out by the CRB.
Mark
Favager, marketing manager for the CRB, said these employers must register for
the new disclosure service by the end of December or they will face delays
recruiting key employees next year.
"Organisations
that as part of their recruitment process use criminal record information to
protect their customers, clients or staff must register with the CRB by the end
of 2001 or risk being unable to carry out these checks," he said.
The
CRB is holding a fringe event at the CIPD National Conference in Harrogate next
week where its operations director Keith Broadbent will outline what employers
need to know about the disclosure service.
From
next summer, all employers will be able to ask prospective employees for
details of their criminal records through the CRB, when provisions in the
Police Act (1997) become law.
Employers
will be able to ask job applicants to apply for one of three types of
disclosure: enhanced, standard and basic, depending on the nature of the post,
each costing £12.
Research
charity the Joseph Rowntree Foundation has claimed that the new powers will
lead to an increase in discrimination against offenders after research revealed
that seven out of 10 employers would require a basic disclosure certificate
from job applicants.
