Background screening in the hospitality and retail sector

Daniel Callaghan

17 Apr

min to read

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With most retail and hospitality on pause during lockdown, the world is now beginning to open and return to work as the government announces easing of lockdown measures. While this is a positive step, it also means that employers will need swift solutions for screening new staff members to reduce time to hire and meet their labour needs.

But the pandemic has left an indelible mark on the future of work, and, now shaky after months of uncertainty, employers need more reassurance than ever that they are making the right hiring decisions, in order to get the most value from tightly squeezed staffing budgets.

While reduced profits might, in the short term at least, make cutting corners look attractive, background screening is crucial to mitigate risk from a bad hire. Employee fraud, compliance breaches and reputational damage are just some of the hazards that can be avoided with a comprehensive screening programme.

And with traditional in person screening now at best ill-advised and at worst opposing government guidelines, digital background checking is crucial to ensure that people are who they say they are and have the experience and qualifications they claim to have.

Digital screening is faster and has a higher level of accuracy than analogue screening, and technology provides a better candidate experience as well as useful insights for employers which can help drive future staffing decisions. In addition, digital screening can help ensure compliance, triggering rechecks of dated qualifications in your current workforce.

With retail and hospitality establishments opening and people emerging from their homes with trepidation, customers will be nervous and looking to your staff to provide a safe and professional environment. It is more important than ever to ensure that new staff members are properly screened to protect your customers and business from risk.

A specialist screening provider can help guide you, drawing on their experiences of safer recruiting, so you can divert your energy to other areas of your business. Veremark are leading providers of local and global background checks, offering convenient 100% digital, 100% accurate checks for new and current staff members in all industries and sectors.

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FAQs

What background check do I need?

This depends on the industry and type of role you are recruiting for. To determine whether you need reference checks, identity checks, bankruptcy checks, civil background checks, credit checks for employment or any of the other background checks we offer, chat to our team of dedicated account managers.

Why should employers check the background of potential employees?

Many industries have compliance-related employment check requirements. And even if your industry doesn’t, remember that your staff have access to assets and data that must be protected. When you employ a new staff member you need to be certain that they have the best interests of your business at heart. Carrying out comprehensive background checking helps mitigate risk and ensures a safer hiring decision.

How long do background checks take?

Again, this depends on the type of checks you need. Simple identity checks can be carried out in as little as a few hours but a worldwide criminal background check for instance might take several weeks. A simple pre-employment check package takes around a week. Our account managers are specialists and can provide detailed information into which checks you need and how long they will take.

Can you do a background check online?

All Veremark checks are carried out online and digitally. This eliminates the need to collect, store and manage paper documents and information making the process faster, more efficient and ensures complete safety of candidate data and documents.

What are the benefits of a background check?

In a competitive marketplace, making the right hiring decisions is key to the success of your company. Employment background checks enables you to understand more about your candidates before making crucial decisions which can have either beneficial or catastrophic effects on your business.

What does a background check show?

Background checks not only provide useful insights into a candidate’s work history, skills and education, but they can also offer richer detail into someone’s personality and character traits. This gives you a huge advantage when considering who to hire. Background checking also ensures that candidates are legally allowed to carry out certain roles, failed criminal and credit checks could prevent them from working with vulnerable people or in a financial function.