Employment Rights Bill Changes: Strengthening Pre-Employment Screening

Given the recent introduction of the Employment Rights Bill and the removal of the two-year qualifying period for unfair dismissal claims, it’s more crucial than ever to consider the benefits of more robust background checks during pre-employment screening. While concerns about potential discrimination claims have been raised, the advantages of thorough background checks far outweigh the risks, ensuring a safer and more productive workplace.

Employment Rights Bill Historical Context

To understand the significance of the Employment Rights Bill 2025, it’s essential to look back at the evolution of employment rights legislation in the UK. Over the years, various laws have been enacted to protect employees and ensure fair treatment in the workplace.

The Employment Rights Act 1996, for instance, laid the foundation for many of the rights employees enjoy today, such as the right to a written statement of employment particulars and protection against unfair dismissal. The new Employment Rights Bill 2025 builds on this legacy by further enhancing employee protections and addressing modern workplace challenges.

Mitigating the Risk of Bad Hires

The primary reason for adopting comprehensive background checks is to mitigate the risk of hiring individuals who may pose any identifiable threat to the organisation. With the removal of the two-year qualifying period for unfair dismissal claims, employers face increased challenges in dismissing unsuitable employees. By conducting thorough background checks, employers can identify potential red flags early in the hiring process, reducing the likelihood of making a bad hire that could be difficult to dismiss once they have been onboarded.

Enhancing Workplace Safety and Security

Robust background checks are essential for enhancing workplace safety and security. Traditional employment screening methods, such as reference checks and criminal record verifications, are no longer sufficient to protect employers from potential risks. Modern employment screening policies must incorporate a comprehensive range of checks tailored to specific roles and sectors.

These checks should be considered for inclusion, depending on the role and the risks:

• Digital ID Checks: Ensuring the authenticity of an applicant’s identity.

• Financial Probity Checks: Identifying any financial irregularities such as CCJs, IVAs, or bankruptcy that could indicate potential risk factors for fraud or theft.

• Directorship Checks: Identifying barred directors and revealing conflicts of interest.

• Social Media and Adverse Media Screening: Providing crucial insights into a potential employee’s public behaviour and reputation.

• PEP (Politically Exposed Persons) and Sanctions Searches: Identifying individuals who may pose a higher risk due to their political connections or presence on international sanctions lists.

• Verification of Professional Registrations and Academic Qualifications: Ensuring candidates possess the necessary credentials and expertise for their roles.

• Fraud Checks, Right to Work Verifications, and Driving Licence Checks: Vital components of a thorough background screening process.

• Criminal Record Checks: Checking an applicant’s visible criminal record. Employers must balance the understanding that 1 in 4 people of working age in the UK have a criminal record with ensuring they do not discriminate against these individuals unless there is a clear justification or regulatory restriction for the specific role.

By implementing these comprehensive background checks, employers can create a safer working environment, reduce the risk of workplace misconduct, and protect their organisation’s reputation, co-workers, and assets. This proactive approach to vetting and screening not only enhances security but also fosters a culture of trust and integrity within the workplace.

Technological Advancements in Background Checks

The landscape of background checks is rapidly evolving, thanks to technological advancements. Several new methods are revolutionising the way employers conduct pre-employment screening, offering instant results and reducing the time to hire.

Here are some of the most impactful technological advancements:

Social Media Checks

Social media platforms provide valuable insights into a candidate’s public behaviour, interests, and interactions. Employers use professional social media checks to compliantly uncover character traits and potential red flags that traditional methods might miss. Advanced tools, like Natural Language Processing (NLP), can process and categorise thousands of posts per second in any language.  AI is used to identify accounts that belong to the candidate. These are tasks that hiring managers and HR teams simply cannot possibly perform to any comparable level of quality or consistency. Social media checking technology ensures fast, precise identification of risks, significantly enhancing the reliability of the screening process.

Driving Licence Checks

Instant verification of driving licences ensures that candidates required to drive as part of their job have valid and clean driving records. This is particularly important for roles involving transportation or delivery services.

Directorship Checks

These checks identify individuals who hold or have held directorship positions, revealing potential conflicts of interest or disqualifications. This is crucial for roles involving financial oversight or executive decision-making.

Adverse Media Checks

By scanning news articles, blogs, and other media sources, employers can identify any negative publicity associated with a candidate. This helps in assessing the potential reputational risk of hiring the individual.

Instant Employment History Verifications

Leveraging HMRC data through Government Gateway accounts represents a significant technological advancement in employment screening. This method allows employers to instantly access and verify a candidate’s employment history, ensuring the information provided is accurate and up-to-date. By automating this process, employers can drastically reduce the time to hire, eliminating the need for manual verification and reducing the risk of errors. This technology not only streamlines the hiring process but also enhances the reliability of employment history checks, providing a more efficient and trustworthy screening solution.

These technological advancements are not only streamlining the background check process but also enhancing its effectiveness. Employers can make more informed hiring decisions quickly, reducing the risk of bad hires and improving overall workforce quality.

The Rise of Re-Screening

Another significant trend in background checks is the widespread adoption of re-screening. This involves conducting periodic checks on existing employees, particularly when they move roles, gain promotions, or on an annual basis. Re-screening ensures that employees continue to meet the organisation’s standards and comply with regulatory requirements.

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the shift towards remote and hybrid working models. Coupled with the cost of living crisis, this shift has led to an increase in multi-jobbing, side hustles, and other secondary income streams.

In this context, directorship checks have become increasingly important. These checks help employers detect and understand risks related to conflicts of interest and ensure that employees remain focused on their full-time working commitments.

Remote and hybrid working environments have made it easier for employees to engage in multiple roles or side businesses, sometimes without their primary employer’s knowledge. This can lead to conflicts of interest, divided attention, and potential breaches of company policies.

Directorship checks in re-screening programmes help identify any undisclosed directorships or business interests that employees may hold. By doing so, employers can address potential conflicts early and ensure that employees are fully committed to their primary roles.

Key areas for re-screening include:

PEP and Sanctions Checks

Ensuring that employees are not listed on any politically exposed persons or sanctions lists. Someone could have become exposed due to marriage or family affiliation, increasing the risk of corruption or undue influence.

Driving Licence Checks

Verifying that employees who drive as part of their job maintain valid and clean driving records. Penalty points could have accrued since the check was last conducted, putting their licence at risk and potentially impacting their ability to perform their job safely.

Credit Checks

Assessing employees’ financial stability, particularly for roles involving financial responsibilities. The new presence of a County Court Judgment (CCJ), Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA), Debt Relief Order (DRO), or bankruptcy could result in significant fraud risk to the employer as a way out of financial crisis for the employee.

Criminal Record Checks

Ensuring that employees do not have any new criminal convictions that could impact their suitability for their role. New convictions could pose a risk to the safety and integrity of the workplace.

Social Media Checks

Monitoring employees’ public behaviour and interactions to identify any potential risks to the organisation’s reputation. Changes in behaviour or new posts could indicate risks that were not previously apparent.

Directorship Checks

Identifying any directorship positions held by employees to uncover potential conflicts of interest and ensure their primary focus remains on their full-time role. This is crucial in detecting divided loyalties and ensuring that employees are not engaging in activities that could detract from their responsibilities.

Re-screening is becoming an essential practice for maintaining a safe and compliant workforce. It helps organisations identify and address potential issues before they escalate, ensuring ongoing trust and integrity within the workplace.

Protecting Company Reputation

The reputation of a company is one of its most valuable assets. Hiring individuals with a history of dishonesty, fraud, or other unethical behaviour can significantly damage a company’s reputation.

Comprehensive background checks help protect this asset by identifying risks early and ensuring that only individuals meeting the organisation’s requirements and risk thresholds are brought on board. This not only safeguards the company’s standing in the eyes of clients, partners, and the public but also fosters a culture of integrity within the organisation.

Moreover, employment screening is not only about the employer’s protection but also about creating a fair and transparent hiring process. Candidates who undergo thorough background checks can feel confident that they are joining an organisation that values integrity and safety. This can enhance the employer’s brand and attract high-quality candidates who appreciate a rigorous and fair hiring process.

Compliance with Regulatory Standards

In many industries, background checks are not just a best practice but a legal requirement. However, the current industry standards are often outdated and represent only a minimum standard. Employers would be well advised to adopt a modern risk-based approach to pre-employment screening and ongoing vetting of staff.

This approach not only ensures compliance with the baseline level for regulatory standards but also delivers significant benefits to organisations by ensuring excellence in this regard.

By implementing comprehensive background checks, employers can identify potential risks early and avoid the legal repercussions and fines associated with negligent hiring practices. This is particularly important in light of new requirements under the Worker Protection Act 2023, which came into force in October 2024, mandating measures to actively prevent workplace sexual harassment.

By going beyond the minimum standards and adopting a comprehensive, risk-based approach to background checks, employers can create a safer, more secure workplace, protect their reputation, and ensure compliance with both existing and emerging regulatory requirements.

Improving Hiring Decisions

Background checks provide employers with a more comprehensive understanding of a candidate’s history, enabling better-informed hiring decisions. By assessing factors such as employment history, educational qualifications, professional certifications, and publicly available online risk factors, companies can ensure that they are bringing on board individuals with the right qualifications and experience for the job. This thorough vetting process helps to filter out unqualified candidates, leading to a more capable and competent workforce.

Practical Tips for Employers

To ensure that your organisation’s background screening policies are modern and effective, consider the following practical tips:

Develop Modern Screening Policies

It’s crucial for organisations to have up-to-date and effective employment screening policies incorporating modern background checks to address current risks. These policies should outline the types of checks conducted, the frequency of re-screening, and the ethical considerations involved.

Use Technology to Streamline Processes

Leverage technological advancements to make your screening processes more efficient. Invest in advanced screening tools that offer instant results and comprehensive checks. Automated systems can help reduce the time to hire and improve the accuracy of background checks.

Train Your HR Team

Ensure that your HR team is well-trained in conducting and interpreting background checks. Provide training on the latest screening techniques and tools to help them conduct thorough and accurate checks while respecting candidates’ privacy and rights. They should also be aware of the legal implications and best practices for each type of check.

Communicate Clearly with Candidates

Be transparent with candidates about the screening process. Provide them with information on what checks will be conducted and why they are necessary. Give candidates the ability to track progress too – this helps build trust and reduces anxiety.

Implement Re-Screening Policies

Pre-employment screening is no longer effective in risk mitigation. Establish a policy for periodic re-screening of employees, especially for those in sensitive or high-risk roles. This ensures ongoing compliance and helps identify any new risks that may arise.

Partner with Reputable Screening Providers and Advisory Services

Work with established and reputable background screening providers who can offer comprehensive and reliable checks. Partner with organisations who will ensure you stay informed about best practices and industry standards. These services can provide valuable insights and guidance on conducting effective background checks, ensuring the accuracy and thoroughness of your screening process.

Stay Compliant with Legislation

Ensure that your screening practices comply with the latest employment laws and regulations. Regularly review and update your policies to reflect any changes in legislation.

Conclusion

While concerns about potential discrimination claims are valid, the benefits of robust background checks in pre-employment screening far outweigh the risks.

By implementing a truly comprehensive and modern background check policy, UK employers can:

• Mitigate the risk of bad hires

• Enhance workplace safety and security

• Protect their company reputation

• Ensure compliance with regulatory standards

• Improve their overall hiring decisions to build a strong and reliable workforce

This proactive approach is essential for building a strong and reliable workforce in an increasingly competitive job market. As the adage goes, “knowledge is power” and “trust, but verify” – principles that remain crucial in modern employment screening.

Staying Compliant With EBC Global

At EBC Global, our solutions to seamlessly safeguard organisations, providing you with peace of mind every step of the way. Our tools can simplify your hiring process, enhance compliance with the Employment Rights Bill, and ensure your workforce remains secure. Chat with our team to learn more.

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