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Showing posts from February, 2019

3 legal traps for NZ employers dealing with criminal record checks

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When it comes to candidate criminal record checks, you're dealing with the ultimate in sensitive personal data, so your recruitment process has to be squeaky clean. Here are 3 areas to watch out for. 1. If you're hiring people conditionally, keep all of your paperwork straight - not just your application form In 2013, Fonterra was forced to pay $18,000 compensation to Jason Richardson, a driver who was sacked after he failed to disclose his traffic and criminal convictions on Fonterra's job application form. Fonterra's application form at the time was crystal clear regarding convictions. It asked applicants to disclose any criminal or driving convictions. It also dealt with cases where background check results were not confirmed until after employment had started, by stating that misleading or false information could be grounds for dismissal without notice. However when applying, Richardson mistakenly assumed that his previous convictions fell under the Cle