Pre-employment screening services
Whatever your size or sector, we're committed to providing you with the screening services you need, from end-to-end employment screening for all staff, to quick one-off checks.
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How Reed can help you with your background checks
Reed offers you and your company peace of mind. Our trusted pre-employment screening and employee screening services, provided through Reed Screening, can protect your business ensuring legal compliance and reducing risk.
As the UK’s most reliable provider of employment screening, pre-employment screening and background checks, Reed Screening, pioneers safe hiring practices in the UK.. With over 60 years’ experience, Reed Screening collaborates closely with the UK government and industry bodies to steer hiring change.
With a dedicated team of over 100 screening experts, based in Manchester UK, our background screening services are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The team complete over a million background checks per year and have a wealth of experience across a wide range of sectors, from policing and financial services to healthcare and education. All our checks are conducted by our UK-based experts, who carry out background checks internationally with no time zone limitations and with no data leaving the UK.
Ensure your hiring process is thorough and compliant with our expert employee screening services. Whether you need DBS checks, BPSS, social media checks or BS7858 checks, our screening specialists are here to help. We understand that every company ‘s needs are different when it comes to screening, so we offer a bespoke service with solutions tailored to fit your organisations unique requirements. Or, you can purchase our screening solutions on a pay-per-candidate basis on our website.
The Reed difference
At Reed we pride ourselves in our effective and efficient service - by working with us to screen your workforce we can guarantee a quality background screening service that ensures compliance and substantially reduces your organisational risk.
Each year we conduct over a million searches across 116 countries, and we are a trusted partner of hundreds of organisations across multiple sectors, providing accurate vetting results; so much so that we have a 0% error rate on DBS checks versus a 10.8% national average.
Our background screening services are available 24/7 and we have an average turnaround of 5 days across over 500,000 checks.
As industry leaders, we also work alongside several government and regulatory bodies such as the Home Office, DBS, Cifas, Disclosure Scotland, AFODD, and CQC, to name a few.
Keith Rosser, Reed’s Director of Group Risk and Reed Screening, serves as Council Leader for the PBSA, Vetting Lead of CIFAS, the Chair of the CRTB, a Member of ECHO, and Chair of JobsAware - feeding into legislative reviews and defining strategies to benefit the industry.
We work with the government and other screening and regulatory bodies to ensure we stay ahead of the curve when it comes to developments and changes in screening and compliance.
Our 60 years’ experience in recruitment has afforded us the ability to understand a multitude of supply models and organisational pressures, allowing us to best-judge the solution to suit you.
Not only can we work with your company providing one-off, off-the-shelf screening packages, but we are also able to partner with you to offer flexible, bespoke services to fit the needs of your whole supply chain, mitigating any vetting-based risks.
Reed Screening supports a multitude of clients with their international background check requirements, and over the past 12 months we have conducted screening checks across over 116 countries.
Our unique end-to-end coverage means we can support you with a range of services, beyond that of a typical permanent recruitment agency. Whether you need to hire staff, a range of workforce solutions, consultancy services, professional development support or pre-employment screening – we're here to support all of your needs.
We can help prevent your business from risk...
Send a brief overview of your requirements and we will contact you to find out more about your needs.
Pre-employment screening and background checks FAQs
A pre-employment screening check is a verification of information and background of any potential or current employee. You can use employment screening services to determine if employees can handle sensitive or confidential information and to also assess skills relevant to the position.
Reed completes over a million checks per year and has a wealth of experience across a wide range of industries. Get in touch to find out more.
Background checks for employment are an essential part of the hiring process, which is why it’s important to establish a workplace screening policy to ensure the process remains consistent.
Your pre-employment screening process needs to be conducted in a professional manner, ensuring fairness and transparency. It also needs to meet legal requirements and check all your boxes, so you feel confident when screening a potential employee.
A contract of employment doesn’t exist until a candidate has accepted the offer and all conditions have been satisfied, including references and pre-employment checks.
You can withdraw a conditional job offer at any time before the contract is signed if the results of the screening don’t match your expectations. You should make it clear that the offer may be withdrawn if the checks prove unsatisfactory.
Pre-employment checks can vary due to a range of circumstances and what exactly you want to check. On average, basic checks take up to 14 days, while enhanced and standard checks usually take around eight weeks. It may take shorter or longer, depending on the type of check you are doing.
We offer a range of background screening checks to suit your organisation’s needs and fit the role you are recruiting for. From AssuredID to conduct your digital identity checks, all the way through to enhanced Disclosure Barring Service (DBS) checks, police checks, Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) and BS7858 checks, criminal record checks and social media screening – our experts can advise you of the right background screening services to manage risk and ensure you have the correct people in place for your organisation to thrive.
Depending on the security clearance needs of a role, the outcome of failed background checks will vary. If you are recruiting for a role that requires a clean driving licence, for example, and a Motor Vehicle Record (MVR) check highlights unsafe driving practices or a suspended licence, then it would be unlikely, as an employer, you would offer that person a job. When you purchase one of our off-the-shelf screening packages, we will run the checks on your behalf and give the information to you to act as you see appropriate.
Alternatively, if you have a service contract with Reed Screening, we will work alongside you to identify pre-agreed risk tools and parameters that allow us to make decisions on your behalf.
When it comes to background checks and pre-employment screening, there isn’t just a simple pass/fail. Often, results simply highlight further information that can help you make the right hiring decisions.
There are lots of screening checks available to employers, but the background checks required will vary dependent on sector and the job role you are hiring for. For example, a teaching role in a primary or secondary school will require a higher level of background checks than a marketing job for a carpentry company.
That said, there are some key pre-employment screening checks employers must undertake to comply with the law, including right to work checks, reference checks and in some sectors, criminal record checks and medical checks.
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