When a company is deciding to hire employees, background checks need to be performed. Checks can be made on the person’s social media as well as their employment. Whilst these checks are important, there is one type that stands out as the most important.
Criminal checks are the most important type of background check to be carried out. This is a service that can be provided by a specialist company to ensure accuracy and to save HR departments a large amount of time.
What are the main reasons for a DBS check when hiring people?
1) The check will find out if overseas workers have been convicted whilst they have been living in their home country.
- This is not going to show up on the reports of the police in the UK, so further investigation needs to be carried out. Usually people coming over to the UK to work have a clean criminal record in the country of their birth, but disclosure and barring checking services are going to make certain.
2) The check will find out if people have any criminal convictions that have been spent.
- This means that the person is no longer under a probationary period for the crime that they have been convicted of.
3) The check will find out if people have criminal convictions that are unspent.
- This means that people are still under the terms of their release. All prison sentences which last longer than four years are unspent.
4) The check will verify whether people have convictions that are unrelated to their profession.
- For example, when you are running a warehouse, you might find that potential employees have convictions for assault and battery. This will influence your decision about whether you want to hire the person who is being interviewed.
5) The check will verify whether people have convictions that are directly related to the job.
- Background checks are going to verify whether people have convictions that directly relate to the job that they are applying for. This is vital in three key areas: people working with the elderly and disabled, people working with children, and people who are working with sensitive data.
People who are working with the elderly or the disabled may have had convictions for neglect or assault, which are serious charges that cannot be ignored.
People working with children may have had similar convictions. These charges can be discovered when a full background check is performed.
People working with sensitive government data or with hospital patient data might have convictions for leaking the information. These convictions can be found out with a full check.
Conclusion
A comprehensive background check is necessary to ensure that people with a clean record when they are hired. A check does not have to be carried out by a company’s HR department. Instead, a professional team will be hired for the task. Background checks should be carried out regardless of the industry that the business specialises in.
