Coles and Woolworths employment police checks

Coles and Woolworths are the two largest retail chains in the Australian market. Coles has over 800 stores and employs over 110,000 people. Conversely, Woolworths has over 1,000 stores and employs over 225,000 employees, making both companies one of the largest private employers in the Australian economy.

If you'd like to work in the retail industry, it doesn't get bigger than working with Coles or Woolworths. Why? You can provide exceptional service to the Australian public by delivering everyday items.

These retail chains know that excellent customer service is crucial for growth and retaining their market share. That's why they adopt a rigorous hiring process so that their employees always represent the best interests of customers and the company. One crucial component of their hiring process (depending on the role) may involve a police check.

Formally known as a nationally coordinated criminal history check (NCCHC), a police check reveals an applicant's criminal history. It details past offences like arrests, convictions, finding of guilt without conviction, and even criminal proceedings. Employers use a police check to determine if an applicant will pose a significant risk to their company before hiring.

Some risks major retail employers try to mitigate include:

Retail services involve many human-to-human interactions, including employee interactions with other employees or customers. To ensure these interactions are safe, companies' first point of precaution is avoiding applicants with a history of violent crimes. Why? They may be hot-headed in aggressive situations. For example, if a customer is disrespectful, a hot-headed employee may react unprofessionally, tainting the company's reputation.

Workplace safety also means preventing sexual harassment at the workplace. Hence, applicants with a history of sexual harassment may pose a threat to employees and customers.

Australian retailers lose approximately over $2 billion to theft annually. Workplace theft threatens retail companies' profit margins, which can be the difference between remaining in business or closing. With a police check, employers can make informed hiring decisions.

Here's how to obtain a police check:

You can apply for a police check through an accredited ACIC body or a police agency. The application is usually online. You will be asked to provide basic information like your name, address, date of birth, and the purpose of the check. You will also have to submit four identity documents. They include:

• ✔ One commencement of ID document
• ✔ One primary use in community document
• ✔ Two secondary use in community documents
• ✔ A biometric link to confirm your identity

After uploading these documents, you must pay the application fee. ANCC charges a base fee of $52.90 + GST for a police check.

It does not matter if you need a police check in NSW, a police check in Victoria or in any other state or Territory. Our police check is valid Australia-wide.

After submitting your application, the accredited body or police agency verifies that your ID documents are valid. Afterwards, they forward your application to the National Police Checking Service System (NSS).

If no match is found, it automatically returns a 'No Disclosable Court Outcome' to the requesting accredited body or police agency. On the flip side, if it finds a potential match, it sends that result to the relevant police agency(s) for further assessment. This process involves confirming if the match is valid. If it's not, it returns an NDCO. But if it is, the record moves forward to the vetting stage.

In the vetting stage, the relevant police agency(s) applies the spent conviction scheme to determine which criminal record can be released on the police check result. Once that is sorted out, the police check result is sent to the ACIC-accredited body or police agency that requested the check on the applicant's behalf.

Once the result is available, the accredited ACIC body or police agency will notify you.

About 70% of police check results are available immediately because no potential match is found. Conversely, the application is manually processed if a possible match is found. This is true for about 30% of applications, which can take longer than 15 days.

A police check provides information on an applicant's disclosable criminal history up until the point at which the police check is conducted. Consequently, the employer determines the validity period of the check result. Most retail or supermarket employers prefer police check results less than three months old.

ANCC provides fast and efficient police checks for retail employees as:

Our portal is perfect for those looking to order a quick police check. Simply fill out the online form, upload the required documents and pay the associated fee. We work hard to get the result back to you in a timely manner.

Are you an HR manager in the retail industry? With ANCC's business portal, you can order and track in real-time multiple applicants' police checks. Open a business account to get started today. All business portal users undergo a process of approval prior to being granted access to the ANCC Business Portal.