Our latest blog explores post-employment screening and provides some tips for introducing rescreening to your organization.
If you’re new to rescreening, sometimes also known as employee screening or post-hire screening, it’s perfectly natural to have some questions. In this blog post, we’ll look at some of the most common questions around rescreening, from what it is and why companies do it to examples of rescreening cadences and some tips for introducing rescreening to your business.
What is rescreening?
Rescreening is the process of re-verifying an employee’s background during their employment – usually no sooner than 12 months after they were hired. Like pre-employment screening, a rescreening program typically includes a number of different checks, which may vary depending on the employee’s role and the perceived risk associated with it.
Why do businesses rescreen?
People change. It’s as simple as that. While a pre-employment background screening can be used to help assess a candidate’s suitability for a job, how can you be sure they are still suitable for the position without a rescreening program in place? Rescreening is often used to help companies mitigate their ongoing people risk after their employees’ initial background screenings.
When do businesses rescreen their workforce?
The need for rescreening and the frequency it is undertaken will vary from company to company. Typical instances of when employers may rescreen employees are:
Annually – In regulated industries, such as finance, healthcare, or U.S. transportation, companies may be required to rescreen individuals in certain job roles each year.
Periodically – Companies that conduct periodic rescreening may do so in cycles spanning multiple years. For example, employees may be screened once every three years, meaning that within a three-year cycle, all employees are rescreened. This has the added benefit of spreading the cost of rescreening (and the workload associated with it) over multiple financial years.
Before a worker moves to a higher-risk position – Moving to a managerial role, perhaps with control over budget or access to sensitive information, may require a rescreen, 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.
When moving internationally within your company – Unless you have a global screening policy in place, it is possible that candidates are screened to different standards in different locations, so a candidate moving to a role in a location with more stringent screening requirements may need to be rescreened to meet those standards.
Following a merger/acquisition – When two companies join, it is possible that they may conduct background screening differently (and perhaps smaller companies being acquired may not even screen their workforce pre-hire). Rescreening can be a good way to ensure the entire workforce has been vetted to the same standard and that a company isn’t taking on unmitigated people risk as part of a merger or acquisition.
Starting a rescreening program
As with many HR initiatives, communication is key. Here are a few pointers to help run a successful rescreening program:
Have a clear policy for background screening that includes your rescreening program. Ensure all employees are made aware of the policy and have an opportunity to ask any questions they may have.
Always make sure your policies comply with local laws and any applicable industry regulations.
Like screening a new employee, your rescreening policy should be proportionate to the employee’s role. The level of screening should reflect the potential risk to the business and the requirements of the job.
What do you do if issues are discovered during a rescreen? It is key you have a policy in place in this event so the information can be dealt with appropriately. Findings should be reviewed in the context of the role and in line with applicable laws.