New job wants my passport details, plus my family's!

[prand]

I am joining a new company and as usual, amongst other things, they have requested a copy of my passport.

Unusually, they are also asking for my wife and children's too. The HR person says this is company policy and gave me no further explanation.

Now I'm not too worried, and will provide it, but just wondering what the purpose of the info is. Anyone know of anything similar?

This is for a very large multinational company (not Tony Soprano) I'm going to be working for, so I am assuming my family will be safe if things go a bit wrong in the office!

[prand]

No, not at all.

[prand]

Yes, I am puzzled by this whole thing.

I've sent over my passport details for jobs plenty of times, it covers my nationality, right for residence and work, proof of address etc in one hit so I'm not too worried about that.

My contract provides healthcare just for me, so this is not for that. Next of kin details for pension/life cover doesn't need passport proof I'd imagine. I won't be sending the family stuff over for no good reason.

Perhaps it's the Scandi type family oriented thing of the parent company, but again doesn't make much sense.

I'll keep asking for a proper answer.

[prand]

Yes, I am puzzled by this whole thing.

I've sent over my passport details for jobs plenty of times, it covers my nationality, right for residence and work, proof of address etc in one hit so I'm not too worried about that for myself.

My new contract provides healthcare just for me, so this is not for family cover. Next of kin details for pension/life cover doesn't need passport proof I'd imagine. I really won't be sending the family stuff over for no good reason.

Perhaps it's some Scandi type family oriented thing of the parent company, but again doesn't make much sense.

I'll keep asking for a proper answer.

[prand]

Vaud said:

It doesn't. But a UK passport provides proof of right of domicile and right to work, which is the test?

Sorry, confusing with driving license.

[prand]

I had an answer to this today. I don't have to provide my family passport details after all. The HR person is an agency person supporting a big recruitment drive and had mistakenly asked for this by following the wrong procedure (which apparently applies to families relocating for the role).

So assuming the correct procedure is now being followed (all the contracts etc look ok to me), all is good really, thanks for the input, it didn't sound right at all which is why I posted it up here.

[prand]

richie99 said:

If the OP doesn't trust his prospective employer with the information they have asked for then I would suggest he has bigger problems than showing them his wife's passport. Are you planning to work for a company known for committing identity theft and fraud? My employer wants to know for a number of reasons; health insurance (already discounted), life insurance, pension among them.

Hi, as explained above, the request was a mistake by the company's HR department, so my original question is a bit irrelevant now. Also, as this is a pretty well established and regarded company (and ironically I've had to sign all sorts of anti-corruption, data protection and other screening forms and statements as part of starting the role - so the processes are there), I wouldn't have an issue providing this info if it was for a valid reason. In my understanding of the Data Protection laws, requesting and retaining information needs to be relevant and not excessive - I felt it was both of those, queried it and it was confirmed not required.