Employees screening tips

What is employment screening?

Employment screening involves checking certain details of candidates and employees before they are hired or before they are given certain new responsibilities within an organisation. The purpose of this is to ensure a higher level of integrity, and create a safer working environment. The extent to which candidates or employees should be screened depends on a company’s industry, the specific position and company policy.

Employment screening can be divided into two variants:

• Pre-employment screening

  With pre-employment screening, potential employees are checked before they are hired. Besides the data supplied by the candidates themselves, such as ID, work experience and diplomas, data on personal financial situation or the criminal background (such as Certificate of Good Conduct) are requested directly or indirectly from the relevant bodies and registers.

• In-employment screening

  During in-employment screening, existing employees are checked when, for example, they change to a new position and/or are promoted. In addition, in-employment screening can be carried out as a periodic check. For example, if the laws and regulations of a certain industry require or recommend it.

Staff screening tips

There are a number of aspects to consider when screening employees. Validata, employment screening specialist since 2009, advises you to take the following aspects into account:

Determine what you want to know about your employees

The extent to which your employees need to be screened depends on the candidate’s or employee’s position or department. There is also a big difference between pre-employment screening and in-employment screening.

What can you screen during in-employment screening?

In this case, the screening is less extensive as opposed to someone who is new to your organisation. Still, there are some checks that can be done periodically:

• Criminal background (or Certificate of Good Conduct): Your employees’ behaviour may change outside of working hours. When this is relevant for their responsibilities and performance, you, as an employer, need to be aware of this. For some sectors and jobs, it is a legal requirement to have them periodically checked. Think of professions that work with vulnerable groups.
• PEP, sanction lists, adverse media check: By checking these items periodically, you prevent specific risks, such as possible corruption, fraud or other illegal activities.
• Certificates check: Employees are often hired on the basis of certain qualifications and certificates. To make sure these are not expired, it is very important to check the relevant registers. Consider, for example, the BIG registration in healthcare or the WFT in financial services.

Decide who will screen your employees’ data

Screening employees is a complicated process. Also, it can be an uncomfortable task for an HR department, as they often know the employees as well. Therefore, we advise to outsource employment screening to a company that is specialised in employment screening services.

By using smart software and a network of (data) partners, screening can be conducted much faster and better, and it also relieves the HR department. Validata can help you screen employees through pre-employment screening or in-employment screening.

Read more about employment screening

Safe the screening results and information in the employee file

It is important to include the result and any additional information of the screenings in the employee file. This way, there is always an up-to-date picture of each employee. Some companies have employment screening software that, through an API link with your HR system, can automate this process.

Incorporate staff screening into your routine

One reason to screen your staff periodically is to keep track of any expired documents. For example, professional certificates can have different expiration dates. When you have your employees screened periodically as a standard, you no longer have to think about what to check and when to do this.