While pre-employment screening is commonplace in the hiring process, rescreening current employees is notably less so. In a recent study, 48% of employers do not rescreen employees after their initial background check.
To protect the safety of your workplace and your customers, it is a best practice to continue screening throughout an employee’s entire time with your company. Relying solely on a background screening from the hiring process only provides a snapshot of an employee’s relevant history before joining your team. Rescreening current employees can bring to light important changes that may impact their continued qualifications for their existing role.
Your reputation is on the line. If you’re new to background checks or rescreening in general, here’s what hiring managers, human resources, and your company’s leadership team needs to know about rescreening current employees.
What Does Rescreening Mean?
Regular rescreening can help to keep your security standards high and help to identify any potential internal threats. A definition of rescreening is the process of performing a background check on current employees after a period of employment.
The process of rescreening any current employee is typically not as broad an a pre-employment screening. Things like previous employment, education, and personal identification have already been verified. A rescreening would more likely include criminal checks, global terrorism list checks, or even credit checks depending on the employee’s role in your organization.
Why Employers Should Rescreen Current Employees
Some current employee rescreening may be prompted by a change in job within the organization or if something occurs. An example of this could be a workplace accident or unusual behavior that leaves management questioning the employee’s status.
Other reasons for screening current employees include:
- If the employee is taking on new responsibilities, such as driving for the business, access to more secure information, or company finances
- The initial background check may not have included inquiry on the employee’s driving or financial history
- When there is an accident or behavior that is usual for the employee, management may opt to rescreen to rule out the use of drugs or alcohol
- Background screening rules have changed for new incoming candidates, current employees should be held to the new and updated standards
- To obtain new information on long-standing employees, new screening may be necessary
When Should Employers Rescreen Current Employees?
There are different instances of when employers could perform a rescreening for current employees. Here are just a few common examples:
- Annually – This ensures all employees are aware such a screening will take place on their hiring anniversary
- Periodically – This could be stretched out to every two to three years, which can help spread the cost of the rescreening and keep the timing a surprise to the employee
- Promotions – If the employee is moving into a higher risk role with more responsibilities
- Merger or Acquisition – The background screenings at the other company may have been set at a lower standard
How to Effectively Run a Successful Rescreening Program
We recommend building out a very well defined rescreening program and putting a policy in place that is accessible to all employees. Ideally your employee manual is where such a policy would live. The policy should explain clearly what the process is for re-screening, what you are looking for in the checks, and how you will deal with criminal convictions if they occur for current employees. Legally, companies will still need to get consent from the individual before performing the background check.
At Barada Associates, we perform rescreening current employee policies for companies of any size. Paul and the entire team at Barada can help you run your rescreening policy for your current employees. Schedule a consultation today to get the process started.