With the massive changes that were taking place throughout the UK regarding the Coronavirus, people were not sure how they were going to adapt. With the national lockdowns, companies and businesses were shutting down, and a large group of people were finding it difficult to get a
job. Others were not planning on beginning working any time soon since they wanted to wait for the pandemic to get better before they could begin applying for a job.
With the massive changes that were taking place in the way that companies were functioning, employers or people running companies had to take a call on adapting or shutting shop. While many companies could adapt to changes like remote working, others had in-person requirements, and they were not sure how they would get through the process. Industries and businesses working in hospitality, construction, healthcare and medical assistance were for the most part done in person, with a few aspects of these companies handling remotely as well. People could arrange for meetings and get in touch with these companies online since organizing in-person meetings were quite challenging.
There were various schemes the Government began running, which were put in place to assist businesses and companies since they were finding it difficult to hold on to all the people who were working in their company pre-pandemic. They were even paying a large percentage of the salaries of the people so companies could ease up on the load and there would be fewer jobs lost during the lockdowns.
While the country was going through multiple national lockdowns, there were several businesses, companies, and departments that the Government declared as essential services and they had to stay open throughout the pandemic. The healthcare industry and medical professionals had to work throughout the pandemic since there were a lot of lives on the line. Similarly, there were other companies as well, like people repairing cars were also working since people who had to move needed the ability to get assistance if their vehicles were giving them trouble. When it
came to most hospitals in the UK, they needed all hands on deck and people were called in to make sure that the hospitals could keep up with the increasing number of sick patients coming in.
There were new rules and changes in how hospitals were prioritising the people who were sick. Most of the hospitals were overwhelmed with the number of people coming in regularly and were not sure how they were supposed to get through the process. People with minor illnesses were not given as much priority as the rest and many hospitals had separate wings only for COVID.
With so many people out of work and remote working rules in place, companies were selective about the people they were working with and wanted to make sure they were a good fit for the company and their respective team. Since their staff were working from home anyway, they were only looking to work with the best and their address no longer mattered since they did not have to come into the office. Additionally, they implemented some rules about offices and other closed places. Most companies could not work with the same number of people now, that they were in the past since there could only be a specific number of people working in the office, depending on the size of the office.
With all the changes, employers were making sure they were picking the best of the lot. The main downside was that they had not met the person in the past since most of the meetings and conversations were ideally over the phone or video calls. Background checks were the new normal, and most companies were running them to make sure the people they were bringing in did not have a criminal record.
Additionally, different job descriptions had varying rules and requirements. Depending on the rules and requirements people had to get specific tests showing their backgrounds. A majority of the jobs were only looking for candidates based on their background, which significantly increased the chances for a person without a criminal record to get a job. While there was a process to gather the information for people who were applying for their background check, they created a new fast track process.
When applying to work within the healthcare industry, there were a few more background checks needed. It was not enough that the individual did not have a criminal record, but they needed to make sure that they did not have any convictions for misbehaving with various age groups. That meant that they were treating the younger and older generation properly. Other than the medical profession, working at a nursing home or teach at a kindergarten are other professions where these rules apply.
After submitting all the applications to the respective authorities, there was a fast track process that would gather the ones belonging to people applying to assist in the medical field, and they would provide them sooner than the rest.
The most popular check is a CRB check which is a basic check that most employers apply for when they are getting their employees to submit that information. Employees can choose not to provide the information but would not receive any preference over others. Furthermore, some background check processes are online, which make the process a lot faster, especially during the Coronavirus pandemic when most people are not even leaving their houses.
Many of the background tests and checks were not provided by the office directly, and they had to coordinate with various other institutions or departments. The police departmentwas one of the most popular sources for gathering information. Additionally, there are some tests and checks that are only handled by them, like when applying for a visa application or other paperwork. Furthermore, working for the Government, healthcare, as mentioned before, and many others need the details coordinated through the police department.