Furious! aibu to refuse to do this?

[PearlNicholas]

Got new job,have trained hard for it and am good at it, been doing it for three months now and have just had an email from head office saying they want to a credit/background check on me, I feel it's intrusive and has no bearing on my ability to do my job
In in a bit debt but not unmanageable and and feel embarrassed and humiliated and being asked to do this
Can I refuse?

[annielouise]

I don't blame you Pearl. People are put through hoops now and I also find it very intrusive. I've been self employed for more than 10 years and the thought of going back into a company fills me with dread as some want all your medical records as well. No privacy at all. You've nothing to hide but it's your business. If it is just a credit check I think anyone can do that on you on Experian for instance. Is it more than that?

[happygirl87]

Are you Princess Charlotte?

[Toooldtobearsed]

If your company has been contracted to provide staff to give pension advice (for example), standard checks will be required commissioning authority.

Just go with the flow, there really is nothing else you can do at this stage and you will probably be pleasantly surprised.

Good luck

[PearlNicholas]

And it's not nearly as important as the lack of details makes it sound!

[PearlNicholas]

No I'm not wips, the job has never existed in this country before now
I realise I sound like an arse by not explaining fully but it's so specific that I would out myself immediately

[theendoftheendoftheend]

I've had this as part of vetting for a new job, in fact they even wanted to know if I have EVER had an STI

[PearlNicholas]

No I'm not wips, the job has never existed in this country before now

[WipsGlitter]

Are you providing a service to the armed forces?

We had a single employee specifically employed to do this and they had to undergo a credit check to ensure they were not in a position where they could have been intimidated into revealing military "secrets" because they needed the money.

[OllyBJolly]

I've being doing it for months

You say 3 months - that's really just in the door. It sounds like it's a client stipulation and as such you should comply if you want to keep the job.

[SiobhanSharpe]

Would you be able to ask for more information about this, why is it being carried out, what classes of employee are credit checked and also exactly who would have access to your financial data. (And how long it would be held on your file. ) it seems more and more organizations, employers, government departments and so on try to collect as much data as possible about citizens, customers, clients or employees without necessarily having much idea why, other than it might be useful.

I routinely refuse all such rquests unless the collection of this data is likely to be of direct benefit to me. But I don't work. and am a fully paid-up member of the awkward squad

However I don't think it would be unreasonable of you to ask for more details. In addition, why not get onto one of the credit checking agencies to see what they've got on file about you? Have a look at the money-saving expert website for a cheap or free way to do this.

[expatinscotland]

I'd allow it. Even if you have debts, it won't be a reason to dismiss you.

[bbcessex]

I doubt you've got anything in your history that's an issue, from.whar you've said.

I've had one and more detailed ones for my current firm and others... its often part and parcel of their requirement if they are dealing with clients and potentially sensitive data..

Really don't worry about it.. you're panicking for nothing xxxx

[ahbollocks]

I think do it but ask to explain any low points.
My ddad had to under go polygraph testing to keep his job, as someone in their company had leaked information to a rival. It was utterly bizarre. He passed but retired early due to the stress of it all

[FeckTheMagicDragon]

Its pretty standard for a lot of sectors, and if the client is in one of them it may be that they have to apply the same standards to anyone they do business with. In my job its part of the recruitment process and can delay someones start date if they have changed name or country (like I did) as that confuses the hell out of the agencies that do the checking. Get an experian report for yourself to see what shows up, be honest, don't try and hide anything. They would be more concerned about dishonesty than a managed historical debt. It is intrusive, but its part of the modern business world, and not a reflection on you personally.

[PearlNicholas]

But that's just it, I got the job, I've being doing it for months, I've got a years contract , I just don't understand it!

[Carlywurly]

Everyone in my company has this. You don't get in without. CCjs etc are seen as an indicator of potential poor moral hazard but it's not necessarily a deal breaker if people are upfront and can give an acceptable (brief) explanation for a particularly low score. We do so many I couldn't ever remember individual scores even if I wanted to.

If you want to keep the job, I'd just do it.

[Aridane]

Sorry, OP, sounds utterly standard to me , at least in the financial services sector - my employer does this not just iro of its one employees but require contractors / suppliers to do the same

[PearlNicholas]

So sorry about being so vague about what I do, I just don't want to be recognized, if anyone desperately wants to know I can p.m. you
I guess I'll just have to calm my jets and let them do the check
Thank you all so much for taking the time to reply

[Timeforabiscuit]

That actually makes more sense pearl, another company could insist on certain conditions (such as staff checked and vouched for at the highest levels) in order for your company to have the work in the first place.

On one hand its contract bollocks, on the other its the new company entering a new arrangement with your company with some degree of cover.

[Blistory]

Ahh, we have a three month deadline for certain staff checks for an external contractor. It's all a bit of overkill in that instance but I'd lose the contract otherwise. And it even applies to our cleaners and office juniors.

They're only looking for red flags so don't worry about it, just roll your eyes about bureaucracy today and get on with what you do well.

[PearlNicholas]

It's not even my employer asking as such it's the people in another organisation who contracted my employer to deliver this service

[avocadotoast]

If it's statute barred it probably won't be on your credit file anyway. Have you looked at your credit file yourself to see what it looks like? At least then you'll know exactly what the employer will see. Don't take it so personally.

Yes it's shitty that your employer didn't bring this up before now, but it is an incredibly common thing for companies to do. (At my old work we would frequently get emails saying that X had been offered the job and would be starting on Y date...only then to get an update saying the offer had been retracted because they hadn't passed their credit check.)

I'm grasping at straws a bit here but it could even be that regulations have changed since you started working there. At my work we suddenly had an update to ask us to sign a declaration that we weren't in an IVA, weren't bankrupt etc due to some regulatory changes. I'm not sure what they would have done if people were.

[mynewpassion]

Really they should have done this before you were hired.

[PearlNicholas]

I do understand that Blistory, I'm just finding it hard to be rational for somes strange reason!