Got job offer and contract - hand in notice?

[r56mcs]

Have now received my job offer and contract, both of which are subject to references, background checks etc.

The contract has a start date of just over a month from now (my notice period is one month exactly, and the new employer are aware of this).

Do I hand in my notice to my curent employer now, or is it recommended to wait for the references/checks to be completed? I'm just concerned by the time this all goes through (HR are notoriously slow), it will be less than my notice period to the start date of my new job.

Thanks in advance.

[Too Late]

Hand it in and count down the days

[singlecoil]

How sure are you that the various checks will be in your favour?

[Engineer1]

Unless you know for an absolute fact that you will fail the checks (the check will reveal massive criminal behaviour) you have got the job so bung your notice in.

[r56mcs]

I have no doubt that I'll pass the checks, last time I checked I wasn't a massive criminal!

I've contacted my new employer to get an idea of the kind of references they are expecting, as my current employer provides extremely limited information (as per many other big multinationals).

I guess I'm just erring on the side of caution. The itch to hand it in is getting stronger by the day...