Why employee re-screening should be a priority for all employers

The 2018 HireRight EMEA Employment Screening Benchmark Survey revealed that only 39% of employees are re-screened after being promoted or changing roles and, what’s worse, only 15% of employers currently re-screen employees with no role change.

While pre-employment background checks are common practice for most companies, ongoing screening has yet to be accepted as standard policy. Employers tend to have the mindset that once an employee is hired, he or she is in the clear.

Relying solely on pre-hire screening provides a snapshot of an employee’s relevant background — but can’t account for the future. Re-screening employees can bring to light important changes that may impact an employee’s continued qualifications and ability to contribute to the workforce.

Many industries also have regulations that require an updated background check of sorts for employees. For example, for someone working in the transportation industry, a Motor Vehicle Record check might be required on an annual basis.

It’s not really a question of if employers should re-screen employers, but when?

When to re-screen employees?

While this will vary, typical instances of when employers may re-screen employees might include:

• Annually – For regulated positions, if screening is required on a regular basis (such a a transportation or financial role).
• Periodically – For companies who re-screen, this is often processed in cycles so they can complete the process at scale (for all employees) but in a seamless way. For example, employees may be screened once every three years.
• Promotions – Moving to a managerial role, perhaps with control over budget, may require a re-screen, particularly if the initial screen was for an entry level role. This could also apply if a role is given new responsibilities which make the job higher risk.

For more information on how to implement a re-screening process for your employees, contact our team of experts today.