Boards
CRB Checks - why the hell do people put up with them?
I got offered a job back in December. I accepted it but was told I'm not able to get a start date (and hence not able to hand my notice in on my existing job) until I'd got the CRB check cleared.
Due to Christmas etc. it wasn't until early January that the application for the CRB check was put in. 90% of standard checks are meant to be dealt with within two weeks. It's now four weeks and may be up to as much as eight weeks before it comes through.
It may therefore be that, despite getting the job in December, I can't hand my notice in until March and don't start until April. Which is four months where I'm not doing the job/not getting the increase in salary etc. Obviously some places do let you start without the CRB check but at the same time my new employer's are basically obeying the correct rules.
Now, why the hell do we put up with a system where it takes up to eight weeks for someone to check records and establish you're not a criminal? Is it not basically a system that assumes guilt and denies you right to work on that assumption of guilt despite the supposition we live in a society where you're supposed to be presumed innocent?
I'm not sure what I expect from this ranting but the system is appalling.