How to Choose Appropriate Screening Levels for Candidates

When it comes to deciding the background screening you perform on your candidates, it can be difficult to understand which checks you should and shouldn’t choose to be part of your screening package(s). Some roles require specific checks to be carried out as they are perhaps regulated roles or for a government contract (i.e BPSS), yet others can be less prescriptive. In this blog, we will explore how to choose the right screening levels and how to avoid ‘over-checking’ whilst ensuring all parties have peace of mind. 

The Importance of Choosing the Right Screening Levels:

For some roles, it is a legal requirement for you to carry out specific background checks to be compliant with government/authority legislation and we will cover this further in the sections below. This is easier as an employer as you have a clear framework, however, for those roles without guidelines it is important you select the right checks, here’s why:

• Firstly, you should include the checks that are relevant to the role and important to your business. For example, many businesses will ensure a criminal record check and identity verification is carried out as a bare minimum but for other businesses, employment screening is vital for history and qualification verification.
• You should consider the seniority and associated responsibility of the role and whether additional screening levels such as finance checks, directorship and qualification verifications are carried out.
• To counter the above, you will also need to consider which checks are not relevant or applicable. This will avoid collecting information from the candidate that is not needed and therefore infringing on GDPR. Examples of this would be including a regulated reference on someone not in a regulated role or carrying out an enhanced DBS check for someone who is not eligible for one. 

Over-screening can be considered just as damaging as under screening for you as an employer. If you carry out irrelevant checks and collect more data from a candidate than is required, it not only infringes on GDPR but inconveniences your candidate and extends the screening turnaround time.  

So now we should look at how you decide which background checks should be performed. This is essentially split into two areas, the mandatory checks for regulated roles and government-related work, and then those who do not have any legal background check requirements.

Screening for Regulated Roles & Government-Related Work:

The most common regulated roles are currently within the financial sector. There is specific guidance from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for anyone who is in a position of responsibility (i.e Senior Managers and Directors) to undergo a ‘Fit and Proper’ assessment to become an FCA ‘Approved Person’. 

The assessment is based on the key criteria of determining an individual’s honesty, integrity and reputation; competence and capability; and financial soundness and there are further criteria from the FCA on how this is assessed. At Agenda, we advise clients to carry out the following checks to ensure compliance with the FCA guidelines: 

• ID Verification
• FCA Regulatory Reference & FCA Register Check
• Qualification Verification
• Criminal Record (i.e DBS)
• Financial Check
• Directorship Check
• Employment History & Gap Analysis
• Sanctions Check
• Open Source Internet Mining (OSINT)

There are similar guidelines for instance in sectors such as law and for roles in areas like aviation where individuals go through certain screening levels to ensure they are compliant with the requirements of the role. 

For government-related work, there are the Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) screening guidelines which are for anyone working on government contracts, the armed forces, and civil servants. There are also three other security clearance levels for certain roles which include the Counter-Terrorist Check (CTC), Security Check (SC) and Development Vetting (DV). BPSS Screenings include:

• Identity Verification
• Right to Work Check
• Employment History (3 years)
• Criminal Record Check

Screening for any regulated or government-related role is usually clearly defined in the authority or governmental policies. Working with a screening provider such as Agenda will ensure you remain compliant with regulations and apply them correctly to the appropriate individuals. Our Background Screening Specialists are at the forefront of any legislation changes and will be able to advise you on what checks you need to carry out.

Screening for Non-Regulated Roles:

When it comes to screening for non-regulated roles, our team at Agenda will work with you to design a bespoke package.

Background screening solutions are designed to provide the detail you need to make informed decisions whilst ensuring we are not asking a candidate to provide information outside the realms of their role. Considerations include the types of criminal records which are acceptable per role; whether finance checks are really required; and the length of time in which referencing goes back. 

Key criteria to consider is:

• Will this check give the client the detail they need to make an informed decision?
• Is this check in line with industry standards? What checks do other companies carry out within the same sector?
• What checks are most appropriate for this type of role.? This can be distilled into further questions such as:
  • Is the candidate’s qualification and employment history essential for them to carry out their duties? 
  • Will they have access to certain areas of the business that deal with confidential information? 
  • Will they be working with children? 
  • Is the candidate going to be joining as a director or in a senior role? 
• If we are asking the candidate to share overly confidential details, is there justification for that?
• What are the risks of not carrying out specific checks?

Overall, carrying out background checks at the right screening levels should provide the client with the right amount of information to be confident in employing an individual. In addition, for regulated roles, this is a legal requirement but something that should be carefully monitored to ensure only the relevant employees are going through the regulated screening framework. 

The screening process is an important part of a candidate’s onboarding journey. Ensuring we are not being overly invasive to your candidate whilst getting the information required is what we specialise in. Our team will assist with curating packages that are relevant and provide the information you need with as little effort from your candidate as possible.

If you would like to discuss how to develop a bespoke, relevant, and effective screening programme, please contact our Screening Solutions team via: screening@agenda-screening.co.uk