Pre-Employment Background Checks in Singapore

As an employer in one of the most dynamic employment markets in the world, you’re in a great position. The selection of local Singaporean as well as international talent looking to work in the lion city is only growing as pre-pandemic economic conditions return to Asia and throughout the world. 

When you hire in Singapore, you should verify identity, right to work, employment history and qualifications as a baseline. You can then add checks such as criminal records, sanctions, financial history and references where the role requires them. For foreign hires, getting work-pass information wrong can lead to significant penalties.

You do not need to run every available background check on every candidate. A better approach is to decide which checks are relevant to each role, apply them consistently and make sure any information you submit to Singapore authorities is accurate.

Why run pre-employment background checks in Singapore?

To get to know your potential hires better

Background checks paint a larger and clearer picture of who your applicants really are. You will of course read their resume and conduct preliminary interviews. But there may be details that they, whether intentionally or unintentionally, might leave out during these initial steps of the hiring process. Such details may be critical for the role you are filling. Background checks will reveal whether there is more information regarding candidate strengths, weaknesses, and other areas that you need to know about to make a sound hiring decision. 

For legal compliance

Hiring and employing workers goes hand-in-hand with complying with the business and labor laws in the country you are operating in. It is your responsibility as an employer to know whether certain background checks are mandatory in your industry, as well as whether your potential hires are legally able to work for you. Not doing so can result in fines, damage to your reputation as an employer, or even criminal charges.

It is not beyond some people to lie or embellish their credentials and professional history to get a job. More than staying legally compliant with the local government, background checks help you identify and act on, or avoid, potential criminal issues that may be linked to fraudulent individuals who try to get hired in your company.

For company security

Furthermore, it is your organisation’s responsibility to keep your workforce safe and free from negative and harmful influences. Employment background checks will help you weed out candidates who might be unable to work honestly, fairly, or peacefully with the rest of your team. You want to stop bullying, discrimination, or even acts of violence from ever occurring. By protecting your employees’ well-being,  you will build a workforce that trusts you and will be more likely to stay with you longer.

What are some of the most common background checks in Singapore?

Different markets may emphasize different types of background checks for employment. What types of checks are usually given weight by the Singaporean government as well as SG-based companies?

Identity verification

You should confirm that the candidate is who they claim to be by checking their identity details and documentation. This gives you a reliable starting point for every other check and helps reduce the risk of identity fraud.

There is no specific Singapore fine simply for failing to run a standalone identity check. However, any identity information you use in a work-pass application must be accurate.

Veremark’s identity checks can verify identity documents and support biometric matching.

Right-to-work and work-pass checks

You need to confirm that the candidate is legally entitled to work for your organisation in Singapore.

This is especially important when you hire foreign employees, who need the appropriate valid work pass.

If you employ a foreign employee without a valid work pass, you can face a fine of S$5,000 to S$30,000, imprisonment for up to 12 months, or both. Repeat offenders face mandatory imprisonment and a fine of S$10,000 to S$30,000. Here's a simple guide to the Singapore work pass.

Veremark offers right-to-work checks alongside other Singapore screening checks.

Employment history verification

You can verify previous employers, job titles and dates of employment rather than relying solely on the candidate’s CV.

This is particularly useful when previous experience plays a major part in your hiring decision.

There is no general statutory fine for failing to check employment history. However, if you submit employment information as part of a work-pass application, it must be accurate. Providing false information in a work-pass application can lead to a fine of up to S$20,000, imprisonment for up to two years, or both.

Veremark can handle employment history checks digitally.

Education and qualification verification

You should verify degrees, diplomas and other qualifications where they matter to the role.

This is especially important for some Employment Pass applications. If you need to claim qualification points under COMPASS, the Ministry of Manpower may require verification proof confirming that the qualification is genuine and that the institution is accredited where relevant.

If you submit false information in a work-pass application, you can face a fine of up to S$20,000, imprisonment for up to two years, or both. Your organisation may also lose work-pass privileges.

Veremark provides Singapore MOM education verification as part of its Singapore background screening service.

Professional qualification and licence checks

You should verify professional registrations or licences where they are required for the role.

This applies to regulated professions where a degree alone does not prove that the candidate is authorised to practise.

There is no single general fine for failing to run a professional qualification check. The consequences depend on the profession, regulator and circumstances, so you should confirm the rules for the specific role before the employee starts work.

Criminal record checks

You can check relevant criminal history where it has a legitimate connection to the responsibilities of the role.

This may be appropriate for positions involving sensitive information, financial responsibility, vulnerable people or specific regulatory requirements.

Singapore does not impose a general fine simply because you decide not to run a criminal record check. You should make sure the check is relevant to the role and that you handle candidate data in line with the Personal Data Protection Act.

Veremark offers criminal record screening among its available pre-employment checks in Singapore.

Global sanctions and watchlist checks

You should consider sanctions and watchlist screening where financial crime or regulatory exposure is relevant to the role.

These checks are particularly useful for financial services businesses and positions involving international payments or financial authority.

There is no universal fine for every Singapore employer that fails to run a sanctions check. Your obligations depend on your sector and the rules that apply to your organisation.

Global sanctions screening is available through Veremark’s Singapore screening service.

Financial and credit checks

These should always be dependant on the role. You can use financial history checks for positions with significant responsibility for money, accounts or company assets, but you should only run them where the information is relevant to the role.

Reference checks

Reference checks are completely optional. You can use references to understand how a candidate performed in previous roles and how they worked with managers or colleagues. A reference gives you an assessment of the candidate. Employment verification simply confirms factual employment history.

Veremark can automate reference checks, so you do not have to chase referees manually.

Social media and civil background checks

You can use these checks for specific roles where there is a clear hiring reason, including some senior, public-facing, financial or legal positions.

You should avoid collecting information simply because it is publicly available. The data still needs to be relevant to your hiring decision and handled properly.

Under Singapore’s Personal Data Protection Act, serious breaches can lead to financial penalties of up to S$1 million, or 10% of annual turnover in Singapore for organisations with annual local turnover above S$10 million, where that produces the higher amount.

Veremark also offers civil background checks where they are relevant to the role.

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What should you know about running background checks in Singapore?

Data Protection Laws

Background checks cannot simply be carried out anytime and any way you want. Singapore, as well as other markets, have data privacy laws in place. These must be complied with at all times, especially when collecting and using information for processes like background checks. 

When it comes to data security, Singapore workers are covered by the Personal Data Protection Commission (PDPC). This organization provides requirements governing the collection, use, disclosure and care of personal data in Singapore, including data that employers collect from their employees. 

In compliance with the Personal Data Protection Act 2012 (PDPA) of the PDPC, employers who wish to conduct background checks must comply with the following principles:

1. Consent: You may only collect, use, or disclose personal data with the applicant's informed consent.
2. Purpose limitation: You may only collect, use, or disclose personal data for reasonably appropriate uses or circumstances.
3. Notification: You must inform the applicant why and how you collect, use, or disclose their personal data.
4. Access and correction: The applicant has the right to access and correct the personal data that you have on record.
5. Accuracy: You must make a reasonable effort to ensure that the applicant's personal data is accurate and complete, if using it as the basis for a decision.
6. Protection: You must prevent unauthorized access, collection, use, disclosure, etc., of the applicant's personal data.
7. Retention limitation: You must only retain the applicant's personal data as long as necessary for legal or business purposes.
8. Transfer limitation: You must not transfer the applicant's personal data outside of Singapore unless certain conditions are met.
9. Openness: You must develop and implement policies and practices in your organisation that meet PDPA requirements, and make the details of such policies available for others to know.

How long do background checks take in Singapore?

Conducting background checks in Singapore can take anywhere from a few minutes (some checks can be requested online and received immediately), to a few weeks (some checks involve lots of data gathering and contacting multiple government agencies or other 3rd parties). 

These timings usually depend on:

• How many types of background checks you include in your process
• How complex each check is - Different types of checks involve various factors that can affect timing
• The agencies you are contacting and their internal processes

Here is a basic overview of timings for some of the most common checks:

• Employment history: This typically takes the form of a manual outreach. Organizations must contact an individual’s former employer/s and reference/s to verify if they have submitted accurate claims about their employment history. As expected, this may take varying amounts of time depending on whether references and previous employers are easily contactable, and readily willing to share information. 
• Education history: Similar to employment history, this check can be manual in nature - contacting schools and academic references to confirm if an individual indeed has a history of education in their institution, and the nature of their stay in the educational institution. This can also take varying amounts of time depending on each school’s own process for providing such information.
• Criminal record checks / securing a COC: This can take between 5 to 30 working days from the time of application to receiving the results. Note that the process may take longer in particular if the request is made by non-Singapore residents.

How Veremark Can Help

Whether you are a small organisation that is just starting to explore hiring and background screening practices, or a large, global team seeking to increase hiring efficiency, let Veremark help. 

When it comes to background checks for employment in Singapore, partnering with reliable 3rd party institutions like Veremark, with specialized experience in conducting checks in this market, will help save much of your team’s time and effort, so you can focus more on your employee and business growth.

Consider Veremark’s suite of background check services. These cover the range of both common and more targeted types of pre-employment checks for your industry which can be integrated seamlessly into your organisation’s current background screening process.

Veremark is also one of a select few Ministry of Manpower-accredited partners for Education Verification checks for your foreign hires’ work pass applications. 

Partnering with Veremark, which has the local experience and a comprehensive range of products and  services, will empower your company to make smart, swift hiring decisions. It will allow your company, regardless of size, to build a trustworthy and reliable team that is better geared for success.