Employers step up use of police checks

Employers anxious not to hire sex offenders and fraudsters are flocking to the police for background checks.

The number of people checked by police last year jumped by 30,000 to 450,842, far outstripping demand on the vetting service five years ago, when 270,000 checks were made, The Press newspaper reported today.

Allegations of historical abuse in religious, volunteer and mental health groups in recent years have made employers think twice about employing someone without rigorous checks.

The police licensing and vetting service manager, Inspector Joe Green, said the number of checks could rise rapidly.

"The education and health sectors have been described as sleeping giants," he said.

Police checked a person's criminal record and any indications of potentially dangerous behaviour.

"Police may recommend that an individual does not have unsupervised access to children, young people or more vulnerable members of society," Mr Green said. "This is shown by way of a large red stamp."

Police had issued about 170 stamps in the past year, but many of these could be people with more than one identity.

Police boosted the number of vetting service staff last year to meet demand.

Mr Green said checks took about seven days.

The chief executive of the Institute for Child Protection Studies, Anthea Simcock, warned that police vetting was not a complete background check.

Many sex offenders or paedophiles could slip through to get jobs. The key was to thoroughly check referees and previous jobs.

"You should not rely on written references. Always ring and talk to the person or go and meet them," Ms Simcock said. "Ask their previous employer about the applicant's attitude to children."

Ms Simcock said schools and volunteer groups should make some effort to check people who attended school camps and out-of-town events.

"Often a person will go to these things on the recommendation of someone else and that is all," she said.

"It is the perfect environment for a paedophile where a child is away from home, might be unhappy and is easy to befriend."

Canterbury-Westland Primary Principals' Association president Lex Telfer said schools were always careful to safeguard their pupils.

Teachers were subject to checks when they registered, while other school staff, such as teacher aides and caretakers, were subject to police vetting.

If a parent volunteered to go on a school camp, their offer was taken at face value, Mr Telfer said.

However, if a parent recommended a friend or cousin, schools would be inclined to do a police check.

Recruitment Consultants' Services Association spokesman Andrew McComish said employers had become more aware of the checks available to them.

"People are looking for more checks to ensure their recruitment decisions are the right ones," he said.

"Employers do not want to be splattered on the front page of newspapers with the bad decisions they've made."

Mr McComish said many employers were using credit checks to make sure they did not hire people with gambling problems

- nzpa