It almost goes without saying that a great company comprises of great employees.
But without a proper background check process in place, you could be hiring candidates who appear great, but have an unsavoury background which could pose a risk to your business, clients, employees.
Safe hiring should include a process that mitigates employment risk. In particular, background checks (also known as background screening or pre-employment screening).
Let’s look at the most important parts of the background check process that help mitigate employment risk and prevent bad hiring decisions.
ID Verification
Identify verification serves two important purposes that helps organisations mitigate employment risk.
Firstly, it helps ensure that the person applying for a role at your company is who they claim to be; thus, preventing identity fraud.
Secondly, verified ID documents can be used to run other background checks (DBS, right to work, etc) that may be required in your industry.
From 6th April 2022, organisations in the UK can use digital identity document validation technology (IDVT) to help prevent non-compliant and unlawful hiring. IDVT not only adds further protection from bad hiring, but also helps organisations accelerate the hiring process whilst lowering costs.
Criminal Record Verification (DBS Check)
You may be unaware that you are hiring someone who could pose a danger to your staff and clients. Therefore, it is strongly advised to run a criminal record check (DBS check) on new starters and existing employees; even if you operate in an industry where it is not legally required to do so.
Verifying a candidate’s criminal record is a cost-effective way of protecting your organisation and staff from any legal, financial, and/or reputational damage.
There are three main types of DBS checks. Basic, Standard and Enhanced:
Basic
This can be used for any position or purpose. It contains details of convictions and cautions from the Police National Computer (PNC), “…that are considered to be unspent under the terms of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (ROA) 1974.”
Standard
This details all criminal history, including cautions, warnings, reprimands, and convictions held by the Police National Computer (PNC).
Enhanced
Like a standard DBS, an enhanced DBS also searches the DBS Children’s Barred List or the DBS Adult first (which ensures the candidate is not barred from working with vulnerable groups).
If you are unsure which DBS check you need to run on your candidates, you can refer to our A-Z of Job Roles and the type of DBS check required article.
Credentials – Qualifications and References
Background checks will provide vital information about your candidate, which could be the difference between onboarding them or withdrawing a job offer. And whilst right to work and DBS checks are enormously important, your organisation must have a process to check qualifications/certificates and references.
Fraudulent educational credentials, counterfeit certificates, and fake employment references often go through the screening process undetected. This leads to hiring underqualified and inexperienced staff, who could cause irreparable damage.
Therefore, it is vital that you have a process that assess and verifies educational/employment references and certificates/qualifications.
Rescreening
Rescreening is not only important for organisations who are mandated by strict employment laws and regulations, but to every single company in the UK.
Within a given period, the circumstances of your employees can change drastically. For example, one of your drivers may have incurred points on their licence in the last year. Or, your care worker has recently engaged in a violent crime.
Based on this, it is important that you operate a rescreening procedure for all employees. Most HR departments while rescreen their employees annually, but depending on the sector you operate in (e.g., healthcare, transport, education) you may want to consider more frequent checks.
We have put together a pre-employment screening check list, which can help with building a rescreening procedure and policy. View our Always Up To Date Pre-Employment Checklist here.
Solutions for Effective and Compliant Background Screening
Mitigating employment risk can be aided with the assistance of technology. At EBC Global, we have three options which can help:
Employment Check Pro
Employment Check Pro is our Market Leading Software for Pre-Employment Screening Compliance; a single solution, supporting legal requirements and employment checks for candidates across all sectors.
Pro offers:
- Digital collection of required documents and data
- ID verification technology
- Automatic generation and chasing of references
- Instant background checks (credit, sanctions, and more)
- Fast DBS with electronic certificate available
- Electronic References
- Bespoke documents, references and compliance process
- Comprehensive reporting
- KPI’s, user performance, work distribution
- Final compliance report on applicant
- Tracking and notifications of all activity
- Work list with alerts and reminders
+ over 100 bespoke and stock functions and features
To learn more, visit /pro
Employment Check Lite
Employment Check Lite is designed for companies who want to streamline their application and background check process, without any monthly fees. Not only does Lite allow for instant background checks, it also allows you to collect your candidate’s documents and data with ease. Lite is compliant, secure, and trusted.
To learn more, visit /lite
Employment Check App
Employment Check App allows candidates to supply their data and documents to employers with ease. In addition, candidates can complete background checks, with instant results, including DBS basic, right to work, credit, and more.
Our app allows you to screen and onboard your candidates, without the need to pay for back-office software.
To learn more, visit /app