Care Work - CRB's - Police Checks???

[kiwijock]

Hi

OH and I are due to arrive in NZ early Dec, we have family home that we can stay in when we first arrive and are planning on taking some time out for a few months to decide if we want the rural life (which sound brill at the moment) or if we want to be living on a town.

We are planning to get some casual jobs to cover bills to begin with - perhaps in a rest home for OH and learning disability home/day centre for me. OH has been HCA in metal health for 20 years in UK and I'm a social worker with disability experience.

I imagine we would need to show we don't have a criminal record before we could work. I have had CRB's done in my job but that is now a year old. I have googled at it appears you can't CRB yourself so we can't do them ourselves before we go.

We got our Police certs to get OH blue stickers - they weren't returned and I was thinking about getting new ones done - but not sure that this would be sufficient for an employer.

What have others in social care / health care etc needed in NZ???

Thanks
Anne

[JandM]

On a sort of related topic - is there a requirement for something like the CRB check for those having contact with children in NZ? Although not employed by a school or youth department, I currently meet young people sometimes when doing private lessons and theatre work, and the UK system demands that I be checked out for this.

[constablechuck]

These places will require a NZ Police check and if you work with children they will check with NZ CYFS to see if there have been any child abuse complaints. Depending on whether you work for a private company or government department the Police check will be done by either the NZ Police or the Ministry of Justice.

I've never known of an employer in NZ asking for an overseas Police check, probably because they know NZIS has already done it and you wouldn't be allowed to reside in NZ with any serious convictions.

If your self employed in a "non regulated profession" then you don't need a Police check. However, I suppose that the parents of your clients could ask for evidence of your good character, which would probably be unlikely.

[JandM]

Thanks for the info, Constable Chuck. That's helpful.

(Incidentally...

the parents of your clients could ask for evidence of your good character, which would probably be unlikely

...you can tell this just from one little avatar?! )

[kiwijock]

Thanks, thats great to know