Businesses across every sector these days need to carry out a range of employment screening checks on candidates. Indeed, screening candidates before you invite them for a job interview is something that most credible employers today incorporate into their recruitment process.
But businesses are nothing without their dedicated employees, so, any company that wants to be successful must take the time and effort to invest in their staff. Getting a screening provider to carry out employment screening checks will provide you with more reassurance about the recruitment decisions you are making and who you decide to hire.
Deciding to skip the employment screening stage could be a grave error that leads to you hiring the wrong people, which can end up costing your company a huge chunk of money. Why take such a needless risk as a business organisation?
Here at Secure Screening Services, we are on a mission to become the UK’s most trusted screening services provider by using innovative technology to seamlessly deliver completed candidate screenings to our clients faster than ever. In this blog, we outline the benefits of employment screening.
Firstly, let’s be clear about what employment screening is and what it entails. Employment screening checks help employers to identify and flag up any risks associated with an individual before an employment contract gets signed.
The nature and extent of the employment screening checks you will need to carry out on applicants will always depend on the specific job role that you are recruiting for.
There are various different forms of background checks which look into aspects of candidates’ lives. Of course, you don’t want to pry into a candidate’s private life, but you will also want to have a sufficient amount of knowledge about who you are bringing on board before you commit to spending your company budget on hiring someone new.
The types of background checks which UK employers want to be carried out by screening providers include:
Remember that before asking a screening provider to perform employment screening checks, as an employer you first need to get the permission of each candidate.
At Secure Screening Services, we provide all of the above employment screening checks with excellent swift turnaround times, and first-rate customer service from our attentive team. We also provide you with the ability to monitor the progress of your applications being screened thanks to our online portal system.
Carry on reading to learn about the additional employment screening checks we offer.
As a business, we always try and go the extra mile for our customers here at Secure Screening. The comprehensive range of employment screening services and background checks we offer for employers at Secure Screening also includes:
Our packages are bespoke to your company’s needs and you will find that they are competitively priced and flexible.
Now, let’s go and explore the benefits of employment screening.
You want to ensure you employ the right people that slot nicely into the vacant role in your organisation. For example, if you are considering employing an individual in a role as a security guard to protect people and/or property, you will want to ensure they have a cool head, and employment screening can provide you with a good indication of this.
Failing to protect people and/or property due to getting your recruitment wrong and not using an industry-leading screening service such as Secure Screening could cost your business.
Your employees should always be the beating heart and soul of your company. With this in mind, using a reputable employment screening service provider as an integral part of your recruitment process is a no-brainer if you want to run a healthy business filled with people you can trust.
Employment screening also helps to mitigate and provide protection against all sorts of security threats. Therefore, another benefit of employment screening is that it can prevent major security threats to your workforce, the public, property, data, and so on.
Here we go a bit deeper into the security risks that employment screening can help to mitigate and protect against.
Protecting national security is vital, therefore, candidates for roles which have implications for national security require rigorous employment screening. This includes professions such as border force officers, airport security staff, military personnel, police officers, civil servants, and more.
Terrorism is a threat that hasn’t gone away in the UK or Europe, and we now know just how sophisticated terrorist recruitment networks can be. So, employment screening for the roles above is an essential measure since it helps to protect national security and people living in the UK.
Having staff adhere to GDPR best practices is of paramount importance for UK businesses in today’s age. The NHS, the Ministry of Justice, HMRC, and any government department whatsoever can hold highly sensitive information that must be protected. As a result, anyone applying for a role where they will have access to sensitive information (digital and paper records) will have to undergo high levels of employment screening.
At Secure Screening Services, we offer stringent BPSS clearance checks for employers hiring people working for and with the government, including contractors and temporary or agency staff.
Employment screening helps to ensure important sensitive government data is kept safe and secure and doesn’t fall into the wrong hands.
One of your duties as an employer by law is to protect the health and safety of your workforce. Part and parcel of protecting your employees getting the employment screening phase of the recruitment process right. You may choose to reject an application in an effort to protect your staff based upon specific information you discover during a background check for instance.
In order to create a positive company culture, you need to show you are willing as an employer to fight your staff’s corner and protect them from harm and keep them safe as much as you can. A significant aspect of protecting your workforce and showing you care about their wellbeing is by carrying out proper background checks on applicants for your roles.
Some job roles in certain sectors mean that employees not only come into contact with the general public often, but they also have to work with clients or service users with high levels of vulnerabilities. When you are employing staff that will be in charge of vulnerable individuals in any way, such as the disabled, neurodivergent, children, or elderly people, you must carry out enhanced DBS checks and get your screening process right.
Examples of job roles which will require enhanced screening due to workplace interactions with vulnerable people include:
Basic DBS checks will only tell you about unspent convictions and police cautions. However, standard DBS checks tell you about spent and unspent convictions and cautions. Enhanced DBS checks provide you with information about spent and unspent convictions and cautions, as well as any additional information from the local police records.
So, why is the benefit of criminal record checks for employers when screening candidates? Well, to put it simply, it lets you know more about the person you are employing and their history. Getting an employment screening provider, such as Secure Screening, to carry out your DBS checks could help to prevent anyone from coming into danger because of someone you have employed whose history you weren’t aware of.
Another benefit of employment screening is that it will mean your business is able to comply with current recruitment legislation. For example, businesses in the security industry regulated by the SIA (Security Industry Authority) need to conduct BS7858 security checks for every candidate.
It is illegal to employ people for certain roles without first carrying out employment checks. For instance, it is against UK recruitment legislation to employ a medical professional who will have regular contact with the public and vulnerable people without performing enhanced DBS checks and following screening procedures around safeguarding.
So, have you got lots of candidates to interview and also want to ensure you fit in and comply with recruitment legislation on screening candidates? Use Secure Screening Services and make the very most of our quick slick turnaround times.
An additional benefit of carrying out your employment screening and doing all you can to hire great people to come work for you is that it should allow you to create a positive thriving company culture with a team you feel you can trust. A happy workforce is a productive workforce.
You want to try and employ people who are personable, approachable, and able to gel well with the rest of the team, and screening candidates properly can help you do a much better job of ensuring this.
Another upside of employment screening is that will help you know that everyone you hire has the correct immigration status and the right to work in the UK legally.
In Right to Work checks, screening service providers consider the following as proving an applicant’s right to work in the UK:
On 6th April 2022, the Home Office introduced a new system which requires employers to conduct Right to Work checks on their migrant workforce online. At Secure Screening Services, we are up to date with all the latest online developments in the employment screening and vetting industry. We are proud to tell you about the brand new digital identification technology we have recently started using when we screen for clients, meaning we can perform Right to Work checks for employers more time-efficiently than ever.
The whole aim of Right to Work checks is to verify that individuals have the legal right to work in the UK. You can be sent to jail for five years and pay an unlimited fine if you’re found guilty of employing someone who you knew did not have the right to work in the UK. So, be on the right side of employment law and use an efficient bespoke screening solution like Secure Screening Services.
It is important to know that no party in the recruitment and screening process, neither the employer nor the screening provider, is legally allowed to discriminate on the basis of applicants having protected characteristics.
What are protected characteristics? Well, it means you cannot discriminate against people based on characteristics such as
So, of course, you will want to employ the person who you believe to be the best candidate for the role you are hiring for, but you are not allowed to discriminate unfairly against disadvantaged applicants with protected characteristics.
After all, diversity can be a truly positive thing for your workforce and company culture. Everyone has different things they can bring to the table at work, regardless of their background, race, religious beliefs, gender, sexuality, age, or disability.
So, you now will understand a great deal more about the benefits of employment screening. Get in touch to find out more about our screening services and how they can help your business by phoning us on 01243 767 868 or emailing us at hello@securescreeningservices.com.
