Latest News and views from Secure Screening Services...

Following the government’s decision not to relax current lockdown restrictions on June 21st as originally planned, the Home Office has announced that the concessions allowing right to work checks to be conducted remotely, using either scans or photographs of required documents, have been extended until August 31st 2021.

As an employer, you will be familiar with the government requirement for you to ensure that prospective employees have the legal right to work in the UK. However, Brexit has ended the freedom of movement previously afforded to EU nationals and, as the transition period draws to a close at the end of June, it is vital that you familiarise yourself with how the new points-based immigration system will impact upon how you go about employing overseas workers. .

Employers will be familiar with the legal obligation to follow the prescribed requirements of checking a prospective hire’s documents and verifying their legal entitlement to work in the UK, prior to the candidate commencing employment. As we saw in our Right to Work blog, after 30th June, a Biometric Residence Permit or EU/Swiss passport will no longer be accepted as proof of right to work and, thus, will not provide a statutory excuse against civil penalties and the possibility of criminal prosecution.

Whilst pre-employment screening is now firmly embedded in the recruitment process for most companies, many overlook the importance of ensuring that their current employees remain suitable for their roles. When companies fail to ensure the ongoing suitability of current staff - who have ready access to sensitive company information and customer data, but whose circumstances may have altered significantly from when they were initially recruited - they are exposing themselves to considerable potential risk.

Workplace culture is the environment that surrounds us whilst at work. It comprises of the common values, beliefs and attitudes of staff in a shared workplace and is shaped largely by the leadership team and the organisational policies and procedures they implement.

BPSS (Baseline Personal Security Standard) is the required level of screening for anyone who has access to government assets in the course of their work. This includes members of the armed forces, civil servants, temporary staff and government contractors.

For several years now the pressure to offer flexible working, thus enabling employers to recruit and retain the right talent, combined with increased access to affordable and reliable video-conferencing technology and collaboration tools, has seen a steady rise in the number of employees working from home. However, 2020 has seen a sharp increase in remote working as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and experts such as Stephen Shih, partner at global management consulting firm Bain & Company, argues that this is a trend that is likely to continue to accelerate.

So, you screen your people, great news! You are on your way to safeguarding both your organisation and current workforce. Whether you only complete employment referencing and a criminal record check, or you employ a whole range of background checks as part of your employee vetting, there’s whole lot more to consider….

There are many reasons why the smart thing to do is to screen the people we employ.
There are many areas of legislation which say that you must check certain details before employing someone… I will come onto that. There is also the matter of employing someone that could do vast damage to your brand or reputation.

Firstly, with Rights to work checks we must look at what the law says.
Under section 15 of the 2006 Act, an employer may be liable for a civil penalty if they employ someone who does not have the right to undertake the work in question.^[1]

With the implementation of GDPR in May 2018, there has been some consideration around the use of open source research in pre-employment screening. Is it justifiable? Is it useful, or even necessary? Is it legal? The answer to all these questions is an emphatic ‘Yes’, and here’s why you should consider integrating it into your on-boarding process.

So, there are essentially three levels of DBS check. Not everyone has access to each one and it depends on what the person checked will be doing in their employment or if they are involved in certain professions as to which one will be right for you, more on that to follow.