When you’re hiring new staff, ensuring they’re the right fit isn’t just about their skills and experience – it’s also about confirming their eligibility for the role.
That’s where pre employment checks come in. This process helps protect your organisation by verifying key aspects of a candidate’s background, from identity and qualifications to criminal history. Below, we’ll explore what are pre employment checks, how long do pre employment checks take, and why it’s crucial to get it right from the start.
What Are Pre Employment Checks?
Pre employment checks (sometimes written as pre-employment checks) are a series of verifications that employers conduct to confirm a candidate’s suitability for a role. These checks can vary depending on the job requirements and legal considerations but often include:
- Identity Verification: Ensures the candidate is who they claim to be.
- Criminal Record Checks: Confirms whether the individual has any convictions that may affect their ability to perform the job safely or legally.
- Right to Work Checks: Verifies the candidate’s eligibility to work in the UK (or respective country).
- Qualifications & References: Validates any educational, professional, or personal references to ensure they align with the candidate’s claims.
Conducting these checks helps you maintain compliance with employment and immigration laws, and provides peace of mind that your new employee is both trustworthy and qualified.
Why Are Pre Employment Checks Important?
- Legal Compliance: Staying on the right side of the law is non-negotiable, especially for regulated industries like healthcare or financial services.
- Organisational Safety: Certain jobs involve working with vulnerable populations or handling sensitive data—thorough checks reduce the risk of misconduct.
- Hiring the Right Talent: Beyond technical skills, it’s about finding candidates with a clean record and credible work history.
- Upholding Brand Reputation: Trustworthy staff reflect positively on your brand and build confidence with clients and stakeholders.
How Long Do Pre Employment Checks Take?
The timeframe can vary significantly based on the depth of checks required. For most roles, the process might take anywhere from a couple of days to a few weeks. Factors that influence the timeline include:
- Criminal Record Check Processing Times: Basic checks can be completed relatively quickly, but more detailed checks can take longer.
- Reference Responses: Delays often occur when waiting for referees to reply or when the candidate needs to track down former employers.
- Regulatory Approvals: In certain industries, additional sign-offs or certifications may be necessary, extending the timeline.
Many employers worry that the process will slow down hiring, but with a well-organised system, you can minimise delays and ensure candidates remain engaged and informed along the way.
Types of Pre Employment Checks
Depending on the nature of the role, you might need one or more of the following checks to ensure your new hire is both qualified and legally eligible to join your team:
DBS Checks (Basic, Standard & Enhanced)
Basic Disclosure: Provides a record of unspent criminal convictions.
Standard Check: Details both spent and unspent convictions for positions exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975.
Enhanced Check: Recommended for roles involving work with vulnerable groups. It includes spent and unspent convictions, cautions, warnings, and other relevant police information.
Right to Work Checks
Legally required to confirm an individual’s eligibility to work in the UK. This involves verifying documents such as passports or work permits and ensuring they are valid for employment.
Reference Checks
Contacting previous employers or professional references to confirm a candidate’s work history, performance, and reliability. This can highlight any red flags and validate the individual’s experience.
ID Checks
Verifying the authenticity of identity documents (e.g., passports, driver’s licences) to protect against identity fraud. Ensuring personal details match across different records can help confirm the candidate’s identity.
International Background Checks
For organisations hiring globally, obtaining overseas criminal record checks or references is crucial. This extra step ensures you have a complete picture of the candidate’s history, even if part of it occurred outside the UK.
Making Pre Employment Checks Simple and Efficient
Carrying out pre-employment checks doesn’t have to be complicated. When you partner with a provider who understands your industry, you can streamline every stage—from requesting checks to getting instant notifications on completed results—all while staying fully compliant. That’s where we come in.
Why Choose Our Service?
Fast Turnaround of Pre Employment Checks
We understand that time is of the essence during the recruitment process. Our system is designed to deliver results as quickly as possible—whether it’s a DBS check, Right to Work confirmation, or ID verification—so you can focus on welcoming the best candidates into your organisation without delays.
Secure Online Platform
Our user-friendly portal allows you to request and track checks from anywhere, at any time. Real-time status updates give you full visibility into which stage each check is at, and you’ll receive prompt notifications the moment results come in.
All Your Checks In One Place
On our system, you can request all of the following on your candidates and employees:
- DBS Checks (Basic, Standard, and Enhanced)
- Right to Work Checks
- Reference Checks
- ID Verification
- International Background Checks
By housing all these services under one roof, we save you the hassle of juggling multiple providers or platforms.
Tailored to Your Needs
Whether you’re recruiting for a small local business or a large enterprise, our platform offers scalable solutions. From high-volume batch checks for massive intakes to one-off verifications for niche roles, our system easily adapts to your organisation’s size and hiring needs.
Dedicated Support
Have a question about the process or need advice on which type of check is right for a particular role? Our friendly, knowledgeable support team is always on hand to help. We’ll guide you through each step, troubleshoot any issues, and provide expert recommendations based on your sector.
Cost-Effective & Transparent
No hidden fees or minimum spends – just use us when you want.
On top of this, by developing our own software in house, we are able to pass on the savings we make to you. Pre employment checks are essential to your recruitment, and shouldn’t cost an arm and a leg.
Helping You Focus on What Matters Most
We’re passionate about reducing hiring headaches. By taking over the time-consuming checks and paperwork, we let you zero in on the real task: finding and retaining top talent. With our streamlined approach, you’ll have confidence that every candidate stepping into your organisation has been thoroughly vetted—quickly, securely, and in line with all legal requirements.
Whether you’re a growing startup, an established enterprise, or a recruitment agency managing multiple clients, our all-inclusive solution for pre-employment checks offers peace of mind and efficiency in equal measure. Let us handle the details so you can make the best hiring decisions, every time.
About The Author
John Schofield-Antoncich
John has processed more applications than days he has been alive, and has become the DBS expert. Got a question? He knows the answer!