Question: Our company needs a background check on our new Financial Controller; she is of Swiss background, studied in London and has been working in New York, relocating recently to Melbourne. We need her to start on Monday and need you to search your global database. Can you please assist?
PeopleCheck: PeopleCheck often receive enquiries where people are unaware of what a background screening actually involves. Many people believe that we simply access one central database that returns all necessary information about an individual, both nationally and internationally, in a few simple steps. Unfortunately, this is not the case and there are additional factors to consider when undertaking background checks outside of Australia, such as transborder data flows and the privacy laws in the relevant countries where information will be sought.
PeopleCheck’s background checking process encompasses many varied types of checks, not just one central database. Searches may include police checks, financial checks, court searches and public databases, as well as their international equivalents. Such information is held with a wide variety of institutions and organisations, with many varying search requirements. In addition, PeopleCheck are able to verify an individual’s employment and qualification history as well as any professional memberships, which mostly involves directly contacting the companies and institutions involved.
As a result of the varied background checks and search requirements, this does require involvement from candidates as PeopleCheck need to obtain specific information relevant to the individual background check e.g. employment history dates, qualification details, international address history and supporting documentation. Further, many background checks (especially Australian and international police checks) require additional forms to be completed as requested by the relevant authorities. This is an important part of the process and ensures local regulations are followed and that our candidates know what we are checking and why.
We only request information from the candidate that directly relates to the searches that have been requested by our client – we will never ask for more information from an individual than we actually need to fulfil our services. If our candidates ever have any queries or concerns over the use of their personal information, they can refer to our privacy policy (https://peoplecheck.com.au/privacy-policy/) or contact our Privacy Team at privacy@peoplecheck.com.au who can provide further assistance.
For further information about the checks and services that PeopleCheck offers, please send us an email at solutions@peoplecheck.com.au or phone 02 4023 0603 and our Business Solutions Team will assist.