Employers have a duty of care to check the backgrounds of prospective employees for the sake of shareholders, fellow employees, clients or customers and in some instances the public. A thorough pre-employment background check can save an organisation an enormous amount of expense and resource further down the road. First Advantage’s services can avoid the need for additional HR staff, accelerate the recruiting process and dramatically improve the quality of background information necessary to make well-informed hiring decisions. This can reduce the expense associated with turnover and re-training – not to mention the reputational damage that a ‘bad hire’ can inflict on the company and its clients.

First Advantage research also found that meeting regulatory compliance is the number one reason why companies perform pre-employment background checks. This is followed by enhancing safety and security in the workplace and preventing fraud or other criminal activity.

First Advantage’s robust suite of enhanced reporting dashboards provides you with better insights for data-driven decisions intended to manage, streamline, and optimise your programs.

We leverage a unique, powerful data analytics platform to collect a 360-degree view of your background screening programs.

A job applicant must give written or electronic consent prior to a third-party screening company like First Advantage conducting any criminal record search, credit history check or reference interview.

First Advantage aligns with our customers’ preferences. Some customers require us to contact candidates directly for additional information. First Advantage will never contact your applicant directly without your authorisation.

This is very much dependent on your specific background screening objectives. There are a wealth of checks available and we will work with you to ensure your screening package aligns with your needs and have experts on hand to help you adhere to legal requirements (although this should not replace, or act as a substitute to, your legal counsel).

You’re advised to work with your own legal counsel when developing your background screening programme. There is much variation between countries and industry laws. However, your industry and job requirements will likely give you a good starting point.

Our background checks comply with local laws, and our compliance team stay on top of legislative and regulatory changes. In addition, we provide regular updates on legislation, while also keeping you informed with webinars and resource material.

In some regulated industries it is essential for prospective employers to process certain types of background check prior to recruiting an individual. For many other sectors it may not be a legal requirement but comes very strongly recommended. At First Advantage we believe it to be best practice to complete a pre-employment background check after a job offer has been made.  Implementing a consistent vetting policy will help to strengthen your onboarding process and reduce business risk.  .

We commonly use the term “turn around time” to describe how long a pre-employment check in the UK takes. The times vary significantly based on the types of searches required to be conducted and on the source that provides the necessary information. Some of the more simple checks may be completed within a matter of hours, while more complex searches, such as international credit checks, may take many weeks or months.

First Advantage can verify an applicant’s employment history, including previous job titles and job descriptions, as well as start and end dates via automated and/or manual methods. To provide more in-depth information, our highly trained team of verification experts contact former employers to manually verify information and the accuracy of a candidate’s application. We also provide in-depth education history verification and professional qualification checks to ensure all details on a candidate’s CV are true and complete.

All personal information is stored securely by First Advantage. Once consent forms are received and a background check has commenced, access to information is restricted to end-users as defined by consent forms and in accordance with the Data Protection Act. Information is stored and maintained for a period of time as required for privacy legislation, audit purposes, and customer requirements. Read our privacy statement for more information.

Operating in over 200 countries and territories, our global software, data, and regional expertise enables us to be a one-stop shop for employers around the world. First Advantage brings innovation, automation, scalability, and customer success to the forefront, modernising the way businesses hire smarter and onboard faster, gloabally.

First Advantage customers can access helpful resources in the Help & Resource Centre once they login to their account.