What is a Background Check?
A background check allows you to verify information about a person's past. These checks will look into someone's background, and could include many things from employment, education, criminal records, credit history, motor vehicle and license record checks.
It is important to note that background checks can often be referred to by different names depending on how your business describes them. For example, some may refer to background checks as reference checks, or vetting checks, but these can all be used interchangeably to mean similar things.
Why Do I need to background check?
Many employers complete a background check during the recruitment process to ensure a new hire is being truthful about their past. Background checking will verify your new hire's identity, work history, qualifications, and criminal background; you need to check that your new recruit has shared accurate and honest information with you. Reference checks with help corroborate the information you have, and could help to protect against risks such as occupational theft. They also help to verifying competencies that you recruit many needs for their new role and ensure workplace safety.
How do I complete background checks?
Background checks have traditionally been done manually, usually using labour-intensive and admin-heavy methods. VettingGateway has been designed to take away the burden of having to do these checks manually. From individual checks such as DBS and identity checks, to employment and education reference checks, VettingGateway can help you manage the process from end to end on an easy-to-use online platform.
What types of background checks are there?
This will depend on the type of job and/or industry your new hire will be working in. Basic employment checks include DBS checks, reference checks and right-to-work checks.
With VettingGateway you can chose to collect these references anyway you like, but the two preferred methods are by time period or by type:
References By Period of Time:
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Specify any time period for your reference checks
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Select from our pre set reference checks (1 year, 3 year and 5 year)
Many industries regulate the number of years worth of references you should obtain from your applicant. However if you are unsure, VettingGateway allows you to reference your applicant for any period of time from a calendar year to a month.
You can choose from one of our pre-set reference checks or set your own referencing period. You can then delve into the career history and satisfy yourself that your referencing standard has been met. Our most popular time frame to reference is a 5 year background check.
Collect References By Type:
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Specify the type of reference required: education, employment etc
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Obtain just 1 employment reference
If you are unsure what time period to use to reference your applicants then referencing them by type of reference will be more suited to your business. For example, an “Education reference” means you will be seeking a reference from an education establishment, or an “employment reference” means you will be referencing a new employees employment history.
VettingGateway has the functionality to allow you to specify what types of references you want to obtain for your employees. For lower risk environments where, for example, your staff may not be handling sensitive information, you may use VettingGateway to obtain 1 or 2 employment references.
How long does a background check take?
Manual, admin-heavy background checks can be very time consuming. However, VettingGateway can significantly speed the entire process up, with some checks coming back within minutes. In fact, VettingGateway can turnaround an online reference check in as little as 2 days!
