Ensuring you find the best candidates for your roles, particularly those at senior levels, is vital. Recruitment can be expensive and time-consuming, and there are a range of variables to consider. At this early stage in the process, it is critical that your decision-making is on-point, and that time is not wasted.

Companies can significantly increase the chances of finding the right candidate for their role through pre-employment screening. Employment screening, sometimes referred to as background screening or background check services, can ensure businesses recruit trustworthy and qualified individuals for their roles.

 

What Is Employment Screening, and Why Is It Important?

Pre-employment screening can reduce some of the risks inherent in the recruitment process while adding value to the process and improving the calibre of the people within your organisation.

Employment screening enables companies to aim for excellence in their recruitment policies while helping them reduce the risk of making a costly mistake. While in most cases, getting an appointment wrong may lead to poor performance or increased staff turnover, in worst-case scenarios, it can lead to workplace conflict and reputational damage.

 

Minimising Recruitment Risk

Pre-employment screening removes some of the risks associated with the recruitment process by providing employers with valuable information about the background of a candidate, their qualifications, and past behaviours. By conducting thorough checks on employment history, educational background, professional references, and criminal records, employers can identify any discrepancies or potential red flags that could signal potential issues. 

This advance warning of potential problems reduces the risk of an organisation appointing someone who may not be suitable for the position. 

Investing in pre-employment screening is a proactive approach that helps companies make informed recruitment decisions while building a strong, responsible, and productive workforce. 

 

Employment Screening Services With a Commitment to Excellence

Employment screening and background check services can vary in how thorough and detailed they are. Choosing the right screening service for your needs is essential to achieve the best possible outcome. 

Employment screening services from Agenda leave no stone unturned when it comes to verifying the honesty, integrity, and suitability of candidates for your role. 

While many employment screening services offer a standard package of checks, Agenda recognises the limitations of a one-size-fits-all approach. We understand that your hiring needs are unique. That’s why we go beyond just customising the checks themselves. We offer a bespoke service that tailors not only the screening elements but also the entire service experience to your specific requirements and role.

This means Agenda doesn’t just determine what information to verify; we also customise the way you receive that information and how we interact with you throughout the process. Unlike competitors who might offer only pre-set communication options, Agenda provides true handholding.

Our four-step background screening and background check services begin when the candidate accepts a job offer. The potential employer uploads the candidate’s contact details onto our portal. The candidate is then invited to submit their information to the portal before our dedicated team conducts thorough background checks. 

During this stage of the process, every detail is verified, with reference checks being completed and any gaps investigated. Upon completing the screening checks, the employer receives a screening report detailing all the necessary candidate information. 

This gives employers the detailed background screening information they need to make an informed decision about a candidate’s suitability for a particular role.

Contact us to find out more about our pre-employment screening services and how they can help you optimise your recruitment process. 

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