Pre-Employment Screening
Pre employment verification of your candidates will ensure that you are hiring the right person, which can save you thousands of pounds in the future.
When should it be done
Job verification is essential when a company is about to employ a candidate that no one in the company knows personally.
Why it should be done
There are several reasons why doing a background check is very important, specially considering increasing international instability and terrorism.
- Forbes business magazine said that employee theft costs retailers around 8% of their revenue
- The employment of staff is one if the biggest investments a company can do, and it is therefore essential to minimise risk.
- Employees are entrusted with valuable assets, like cash, goods, customer relations, your company’s products, price lists, customer/client lists, future plans, etc
- Appointing the wrong person for a job can extensively damage your company and its reputation.
Employee Positions
There is a misconception that only key personal should go through employment screening, as they are more likely to have access to sensitive information. Although this is correct and people with access to sensitive information and power should be thoroughly screened, companies should be aware of the damage a wrongly appointed junior member of staff can do to client relations. Companies put themselves at risk when they employ staff members who keep a low profile when going about their duties. These staff members can have access to valuable commercial information.
For example:
- An office cleaner that has access to all areas of the office when there is no one else around; papers on desks, rubbish in the bins.
- An office junior or intern that does all the filing and photocopying
- A delivery driver that knows all your customers, including the goods and amount they purchase from you.
- A waiter that can unexpectedly be rude to your customers and negatively impact their experience of your company.
Pre-employment process
It is important that you know who you are employing; to ensure that your candidates are honest and trustworthy, capable of the job description, have a good reputation, are reliable in the work place and don’t have any major financial commitments or legal problems.
At WIS International we offer a comprehensive pre employment screening service, which includes a 14 step guide to making sure that you are employing honest, reliable people.
- Subject’s details
The employee’s basic details are verified; we make sure he or she lives in the address he claims. In most cases, marriage and former address is also confirmed.
- Company Connections
The subject’s company directorships & partnerships are checked. A list of all companies that they are or have been associated with is provided, including all resignations and dissolved firms. The subject is also checked to ascertain if they have been disqualified to act as a corporate official in any capacity.
- Qualifications and Education
Stated qualifications are verified.
- Former Employers
At some point of the background check, the subject’s former employment history is confirmed; her position, responsibility and salary. It is also verified that they would / would not re-employ the subject again.
Further, we verify that the former employer company is a real entity, that they do in fact exist and are trading from an official trading address. When a person in the company has been named as a reference, we confirm whether they hold a responsible position or not.
- Other Former Employer References
When other references have been provided, their relationship to the subject is confirmed. We also request their position in society, occupation and name of their employer.
In some cases we will undertake certain enquires into the reference’s address, credit history and reputation.
- Fraud and Criminal Checks
The criminal records bureau is checked to ascertain if the subject has any criminal convictions recorded against him or her.
- Money launderers & Terrorism Financiers
The subject is checked against a list of people suspected of money laundering and financiers of terrorist organisations.
- Credit Lists
The subject is checked for court judgments, bankruptcy, bankruptcy petitions and financial litigations.
- Regulatory Checks
Where the subject is or has been required to be registered with a regulatory body *, their membership is confirmed; that they are in good standing and we check for any disciplinary proceedings against them.
(* Doctors, Accounts, Dentists, Financial advisors etc.)
- Litigation
A full litigation search is made through the court systems to ascertain if the subject has been part of, or engaged in, any litigation proceedings.
- Professional Associations
Memberships and standing are checked with the associations.
- Press
A full press search is undertaken through international, national and local press, as well as other media databases. Appropriate searches are also made through trade and specialist magazines.
- Other searches
Enquiries are undertaken to verify any other statements the subject has made about him or herself.
- Senior Positions
When someone is applying for a senior position or a position where they will have access to sensitive information, then close members of their family should also be researched and their professional activities and connections should be ascertained. In this case, hiring an employment verification company can save you money and problems in your hiring process.