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?

[PearlNicholas]

I've nothing to hide apart from a bit of debt, never been made bankrupt or been taken to court
I'm finding it hard to articulate why it upsets me so much but it just does
Its not in insurance

[GahBuggerit]

no it doesnt have to be in the contract, they probably have it as an appendix/addendum or a policy.

depends on how much you want the job, ive had people refuse thinking id magically change company policy for them when ive simply withdrawn the offer and moved on to the next best candidate

[ilovesooty]

If you're offering advice to people I'm not surprised it's a requirement.

[TondelayoSchwarzkopf]

It's completely normal for roles in finance and public sectors among others. I'm a bit baffled by your anger.

Also having debt in itself doesn't make your credit rating bad.

[OllyBJolly]

It's pretty standard in financial services companies - for all types of role.

I would recommend you go along with it. It's mainly looking at whether you are in control of your finances. A bit of debt is okay; CCJs and late payments probably not.

Three months in to a job that you like - choose your battles. This shouldn't be one of them.

[PHANTOMnamechanger]

Have you got something to hide?
Do you want to keep your job?

If the answers are no and yes, in that order, whats the problem?

[PearlNicholas]

No charis there is no way at all bribes could be an option
It's so specific that there's nothing to bribe me with

[Welshmaenad]

If you are making the appropriate regular payments towards your debt, you'll be absolutely fine. The vast majority of the population gave manageable debt. It's excessive amounts of debt, arrears or Ccjs they'll worry about.

[MrsHarveySpecter]

If the job puts you at risk of being bribed for information or access to information you will be credit checked. A poor financial record/position may indicate you are more likely to accept a monetary bribe. It wouldn't rule you out of the position necessarily. The work I used to do required background checks which included a financial check for the reason I've highlighted. One of my team was extremely worried as had financial problems in the past but still okay'd to do the job (obviously were private so I don't know if his clearance came with caveats).

[MrsHarveySpecter]

X-post

[BitterAndOnlySlightlyTwisted]

It's not too late for them to do this. You can be let go for any reason or no reason at all under two years of service.

Decline and they definitely will think you have something to hide.

A "bit of debt" is what most people have. You'll be fine if you're not teetering on the brink of getting a CCJ or have massive and long-standing defaults.

[PHANTOMnamechanger]

OP, is your fury because you are taking this too personally - thinking they are thinking badly about/suspecting you/singling you out or something? Rather than it is just their policy, ie ALL employees do this?

In one of my roles I have to ask people to undertake CRB/DBS checks - no matter if I know them or they have one because they are a childminder etc etc. Some people really get the huff about it.

[cashewnutty]

Perhaps you should call head office and ask why they do this and what it entails rather than getting cross about it. It is probably a routine thing they do with all employees.

[GahBuggerit]

hmm...just spotted youve already been doing it for 3 months. im surprised its come up now but it is possible its been a dept communication cock up. first thing to do is check if there is a policy on this, but either wzy i think you should decide if you want this job as making a fuss over something i would assume your colleagues have done will posdibly just mark your cards in a big way, edpecially as you do not have full employment rights for another 21 months

[PearlNicholas]

I do have a long standing default and am pretty sure it's statute barred

[YBR]

Could you gently question them as to why they're doing it, and why now after you've been there 3 months. I'd be wanting to know why they didn't do it earlier if it's really important to them.

I do think it would be unwise to refuse though.

[PearlNicholas]

Other colleagues do not have this done, I am the only one to do this job in the organization

[glittertits]

Just do the credit check...

[SuggestmeaUsername]

was it mentioned at any point ie in the advert, in the terms and conditions, job offer, interview etc? You may wish to post this in the employment section as there are people there who will know for sure. Id probably tell them its none of their business!

[Blistory]

It's not about your ability - it's about their compliance and procedures. If they are regulated or are any sort of professional company, they have a duty to ensure that your identity has been checked and that all employees have been assessed as part of their overall risk assessment.

It's not personal, more of a box ticking exercise and they will be required to comply with data protection and keep the information confidential.

If it's a niche role, it's likely that any other employers would also require one. It's entirely up to you to consent or not but we would have to terminate a contract if someone refused, regardless as to how great they were or how much we trusted them. My professional body wants evidence of compliance, not just me saying that all my employees are bloody lovely and trustworthy.

[PearlNicholas]

No it was only mentioned after I'd done the training and been given the job

[GahBuggerit]

my point still stands.

if you want to keep the job do the check. if youre not arsed about your future with the company take your chances by refusing, its pretty simple

[PearlNicholas]

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

[mynewpassion]

Really they should have done this before you were hired.

[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.