Pre-Employment Screening

Pre-Employment Screening is a must!

Employers have a duty to protect employees and customers from harm caused by another employee whom the employer knows (or should know) pose a risk to others.

An employer may be found to have breached this duty if they have failed to exercise ‘due diligence’ when checking out a prospective employee’s background, references and personal suitability for the role – especially where such an investigation would have revealed that the applicant had a history of violent behaviour or was otherwise unfit for the job.

British Standard 7858 – Screening

BS7858 is the ‘Industry Standard’ for screening (aka ‘vetting’) personnel throughout the entire employment spectrum and not just confined to the security industry for which it was originally intended.

BS7858 comprises:

Proof of identity and address
Education and employment check
Criminal records check
Financial screening check
Character reference check

BS7858 guidelines say the minimum screening period should be five years, there should be no unverified gaps greater than 31 days and full screening should be completed no later than 12 weeks after employment has commenced for 5 year checks and 16 weeks where the checks are for longer than 5 years.