What Should A Background Check Cover?
The reason for a background check is simple.
It is to ensure that a particular person is who they say they are, they have the skills and education they claim and they are qualified for the post.
When recruiting, background checking has become an essential part of the process.
Getting the right person into the role as quickly as possible is vital for businesses and getting it wrong can be costly and time consuming.
Surveys have shown that candidates often lie or exaggerate on their application forms so businesses need to have a way of counteracting this.
The risks involved in not performing adequate background checks include employing unsuitably skilled staff, damage to company reputation and expensive repetition of the recruitment process.
At worst the lack of an adequate background check can cause danger to existing employees and clients.
In order to be effective in reducing the potential for these and other associated risks the background check should cover some basic areas.
These include:
In the past people were often offered jobs with little more than these basic references.
It has become increasingly common for them to form part of a much more rigorous background check package that can be outsourced to a specialist company.
There is a great deal of legislation in place regarding anti-discrimination of people who have disabilities.
With the individuals permission medical records can be searched, but it is an offence to discriminate against an applicant because of any disability.
Medical history can not generally be used as a reason for not offering a job to a successful candidate.
Reasonable adjustments are expected to be made by the employer to enable them to do the job.
The onus will be on the employer to prove that was not possible in the event of a dispute.
For many jobs nowadays it is common to have a criminal record check.
In many cases this is a legal requirement particularly if the job is in a school, hospital or other location where the person will be working with children or vulnerable adults.
A criminal record check requires the signed consent of the individual involved and is often a requirement of the job being offered.
As well as the basics listed above, there are other records that may be relevant to a background check depending on the particular job.
If, for example, the job on offer involves driving the employer will be interested in the candidates driving records.
Some jobs will specifically require candidates to have a clean driving licence.
Jobs working with machinery may require the candidates to reveal any history of drug testing and take on going drug tests as part of the employment conditions.
Drug tests can also be used as a way of keeping company and individual insurance premiums to a minimum.
It is to ensure that a particular person is who they say they are, they have the skills and education they claim and they are qualified for the post.
When recruiting, background checking has become an essential part of the process.
Getting the right person into the role as quickly as possible is vital for businesses and getting it wrong can be costly and time consuming.
Surveys have shown that candidates often lie or exaggerate on their application forms so businesses need to have a way of counteracting this.
The risks involved in not performing adequate background checks include employing unsuitably skilled staff, damage to company reputation and expensive repetition of the recruitment process.
At worst the lack of an adequate background check can cause danger to existing employees and clients.
In order to be effective in reducing the potential for these and other associated risks the background check should cover some basic areas.
These include:
- Character references
- Employment references
- Employment history
- Identity verification
- Address verification
- Criminal record check
In the past people were often offered jobs with little more than these basic references.
It has become increasingly common for them to form part of a much more rigorous background check package that can be outsourced to a specialist company.
There is a great deal of legislation in place regarding anti-discrimination of people who have disabilities.
With the individuals permission medical records can be searched, but it is an offence to discriminate against an applicant because of any disability.
Medical history can not generally be used as a reason for not offering a job to a successful candidate.
Reasonable adjustments are expected to be made by the employer to enable them to do the job.
The onus will be on the employer to prove that was not possible in the event of a dispute.
For many jobs nowadays it is common to have a criminal record check.
In many cases this is a legal requirement particularly if the job is in a school, hospital or other location where the person will be working with children or vulnerable adults.
A criminal record check requires the signed consent of the individual involved and is often a requirement of the job being offered.
As well as the basics listed above, there are other records that may be relevant to a background check depending on the particular job.
If, for example, the job on offer involves driving the employer will be interested in the candidates driving records.
Some jobs will specifically require candidates to have a clean driving licence.
Jobs working with machinery may require the candidates to reveal any history of drug testing and take on going drug tests as part of the employment conditions.
Drug tests can also be used as a way of keeping company and individual insurance premiums to a minimum.