How long is reasonable to wait for a start date?

[Jabra]

After a successful interview for a new position, I started looking for new childcare arrangements based off the location before accepting the post. Once I'd accepted, I completed pre-employment checks and my references were all returned promptly. These were then sent on to be signed off by the recruitment lead. I need to confirm my childcare arrangements before losing the space, and my current manager is pushing for my notice now she knows I'm leaving but I still haven't had my unconditional. How long is reasonable from all pre-employments checks being complete to being signed off and unconditional offer granted?

Bump!

Depends on the type of checks being done. If it is just references then a week or so but if they are doing DBS or other enhanced checks then it can take several weeks.

If it's local authority I'd badger them. DBS comes back quickly but I've had staff waiting 4 months because the onboarding team were just hopelessly disorganised. We've lost successful candidates due to the delays. Our fastest turn around has been 5 weeks and our slowest was 6 months.

In NHS can be 6 weeks.

Geez, that long until they actually started or until they received a start date?!

Government departments and arms length bodies can be a long time, but they also wait for you to work awkward notice periods too
Applied - Feb
Interviewed and accepted -May
Checks done and possible start date - October
Actual start date due to my own awkward notice period - January

I work in recruitment and it really depends on the job role. Some references can take ages to come back and need to be chased several times (annoyingly!). A DBS for some people can come back within a week and for others months! If you need advice on the progress of your pre-employment checks, don't hesitate to contact the recruitment team. They'll completely understand you have other commitments and responsibilities and it also shows eagerness. Good luck in your new role!