Since the Covid-19 pandemic, a new Vero Screening study has found that employers in the UK have given criminal record checks more weight than any other type of employee screening service.
According to the report, which surveyed more than 250 firms, more than a third (41%) of businesses believe conducting background checks on their employees and looking for criminal activities has become more crucial to them than before the pandemic.
The results have been published in Vero’s latest whitepaper, “The Changing Face of Background Screening,” which explores the problems and difficulties businesses are having with new skill acquisition and retention in the post-pandemic environment.
Organisations from the UK and throughout Europe were surveyed by a global provider of screening services regarding their attitudes toward and levels of participation in pre-employment screening procedures. It was discovered that criminal background checks were seen by employers as the most significant type of pre-employment check, closely followed by ID document verification and education verification using COVID-19.
Despite a substantial majority of businesses (81%) agreeing that the candidate/employee experience of the screening process was also becoming more significant, only 28% of companies felt that social media checks, driver’s licence checks, and gap analyses were necessary for the current environment.
The CEO of Vero, Rupert Emson, stated: “It’s not a big surprise that businesses are feeling pushed to use more thorough hiring procedures in a world where, thanks to the effects of Covid-19, employing workers to work remotely from all over the world is becoming ever more frequent.
We’ve come a long way from the traditional “DBS” check that many still traditionally identify with the kind of work organisations like Vero do, but, interestingly, most employers are still primarily concerned with the criminal record of the people they are seeking to recruit.
“Employment screening is the process of assessing whether or not an individual is acceptable for a specific function, and today this might involve making sure a person’s previous behaviour regarding social media, their finances, professional qualifications, driving record, and much more stands up too,” Rupert continued.
Vero, a subsidiary of Accurate Background Inc., is a market-leading provider of screening services with a reach throughout the globe. It offers a cutting-edge, customer-focused approach to compliance, human resources, digital technology, and other areas.
Businesses also acknowledge in their recently published whitepaper that background checks on potential and current employees are now more critical than ever due to the pandemic, with 75% of those surveyed agreeing. Despite this, the research’s key findings revealed that just 3 in 5 organisations frequently screen at least 75% of their current employees or suppliers.
“What we’re discovering is that a vast majority of firms are still not putting these insights into effect,” Rupert continued. “The epidemic has prompted businesses to recognise the significance of making checks on potential and existing personnel considerably more significantly.
“So, what we need to do now is support those firms in fully understanding the scope of what can be done to guarantee the checks they are making are appropriate for the sector and areas they are working in, too,” the author writes.
