How to run background checks before hiring personnel – Hillcrest SAPS

IF you are in the process of hiring new staff or joining a new company, follow these tips, provided by Hillcrest SAPS communications officer, Capt Linzi Smith, to conduct a background check to safeguard your business and yourself.  

A background check: Professional background screening is a growing industry and a must if you are planning on hiring someone or joining a business you are not familiar with. If you’re thinking about carrying out screening checks on an individual or business, certain key data fields enhance your capability to validate the information you have.

ID Number: If you searched for a person by their name, or company, you can cross reference this against the ID number supplied. If you search for their ID number, with no result, you can cross reference using a name (first name and surname), home address, employment, directorship, property ownership or lease information.

Employment history: Conducting a verification of employment, especially dates, is critical during the hiring process. Many human resource departments will only reveal dates of employment and, at times, the salary. Verifying dates of employment is critical as falsified information on a CV or job application can cast a shadow on a person’s integrity and honesty.

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Property ownership: Banks need to make sure people are likely to repay a home loan according to the terms of your agreement. In making this assessment, they consider a variety of factors related to your past and present financial situation such as credit score, income, current loans and down payment percentage, clothing accounts, expenses etc. Background checks done by financial institutions can be done, which could give you insight into a persons financial profile.

Business ownership: Background checks on business ownership, ratings etc are often conducted to help protect a business, workers or clients. Business ownership checks through Traceps confirm current and past business owners, phone numbers, addresses and property ownership. The relationship between businesses and the directors can be assessed and cross references with other businesses owned.

Where they lived: A good background check should include a person’s history of where they lived. Traceps will give date stamped data of a person’s listed residency through their life. Residence history is often needed by potential landlords to track the movement of people, specially if they have moved frequently. Residency checks can also affect a person’s credit rating.

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Contact details: Background checks to confirm, or find, contact details are important for human resource, financial applications, investors, private Investigators, forensic Investigators, forensic auditing and so many more industries. Traceps can help confirm details, without having to make a call. In the case of employment, you can also find the contact details of a previous employer that an applicant did not want you to contact. Contact details of people connected or linked through telephone numbers, addresses or employment help creating a list of references if needed for the background check.

Police Clearance Certificate – R114 An individual’s criminal record report is obtained by means of taking fingerprints and forwarded to the Criminal Record Centre (CRC) in Pretoria. The individual’s fingerprints through the South African Police Service Criminal Record Database, are used to determine whether any illicit activity is identified against the individual. Illicit activity refers to; conviction(s), case(s), awaiting trial, outstanding warrant(s) of arrest. Once police are in possession of the Illicit Activity report, you are able to draft an assessment to confirm which option is best for you.  

For positions involving accounting or financial responsibilities, credit reports can provide insight into how financially dependable you are. Before you agree to allow an employer to run a background check during the hiring process, find out what kind of information they can discover and what your rights are. 

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