Pre-Employment Screening Candidate FAQs.
In accordance with the USA Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) Accurate will conduct a reasonable reinvestigation, free of charge, upon the request of any US-based individual who disputes the information contained in their consumer background report. You can file a dispute by contacting Accurate by email at ukdpo@accurate.com. Additionally, your request may be sent via mail to: Attn: Data Protection Officer, Vero Screening Ltd trading as Accurate, Princes House, 53-54 Queens Road, Brighton, East Sussex, BN1 3XB, United Kingdom. Please provide us with the following information when making contact, in order that we can promptly investigate your dispute.
- Details of the company that ordered the consumer background report
- Actual or approximate date the report was originally issued
- Your full name and contact information (telephone numbers, email address and mailing address)
- Details of the items on your consumer background report that you wish to dispute
- An explanation as to why you dispute the information and request that it be removed or corrected
Convictions, cautions, warnings and reprimands are required by law to remain on a person’s criminal record for a certain period of time, after which they are considered ‘spent’ and therefore removed or ‘expunged’. Some convictions are so serious that they are never expunged.
We will try not to contact you often during the screening process. However, sometimes we will need your help with additional information or documentation to enable us to complete your screening quickly and efficiently. For example, if you have lived or worked overseas, we may need to request additional information or forms so that we can conduct the required checks. If we are confirming a degree qualification for you, it may be that the university requires your signature on their official consent forms. We may also need to contact you to clarify some of the information provided on your questionnaire, or to request assistance in obtaining a reference from a past employer if they are not responding or cannot be located. Whatever the reason for contacting you, we will always provide details of what we need and how you can help.
As soon as we start work on your screening you will receive an automated email with the name and contact details of the employee at Accurate who will be looking after your screening. We will normally try to contact you by telephone so that we can introduce ourselves. After this we may follow up by email – this enables us to provide details in writing of any specific requirements and gives you the opportunity to respond at a convenient time. If our query is urgent or requires explanation, we may continue to follow up with you by telephone or we may drop you a quick text message, to let you know we are trying to get in touch.
We are unable to process our background checks unless we are in receipt of a clear and legible copy of your passport. Please ensure all four corners of the document are shown in the copy you provide. All details must be clearly visible and legible, including the full alpha-numeric strip (or MRZ code) along the bottom and your photograph.
We do understand that in certain circumstances it may be difficult to provide proof of address. We will work with you to explore alternative routes by which you can obtain the same or similar information.
The usual proof of identify (ID) is a valid passport or UK driver’s licence. If you do not have these documents, a copy of an EU National Identity card or your UK birth certificate is sufficient. A non-UK birth certificate is not sufficient as proof of ID for the purpose of the checks. For proof of address, you could use a utility bill, bank or building society statement, credit or store card statement or government document (e.g. a council tax bill or a letter from HMRC) which shows your current address and is dated within the last three months. Mobile phone bills are not admissible as proof of address. Please note: if your name has recently changed you may be asked to provide a copy of your marriage certificate, Deed Poll, or similar.
Individuals are legally entitled to use their mother’s maiden name and, in some instances, have attempted to conceal their identity by so doing. As a result, the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) require details of an individual’s mother’s maiden name in order to process a criminal records check.
In accordance with Article 5 of the GDPR (which states that ‘personal data shall be adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary in relation to the purposes to which they are processed’) Accurate gathers only the minimum amount of information, as required for the pre- employment screening process.
Financial checks will be run against publicly available records, for example, county court judgment records and bankruptcy filings and orders. These checks do not involve looking at an individual’s credit score. They leave a “soft footprint” on an individual’s credit record which has no effect on the credit score.
In order to complete the screening process, we may need to request evidence for activities we have been unable to confirm at source, or where we are encountering delays at source. For example, if a company at which you previously worked has closed or changed hands, or school records have been archived off-site. In addition, your employer may have a policy which requires employees to evidence any activities during a gap in employment. Your contact at Accurate will talk through any such requirements and explain what documents you need to provide.
In this situation, we recommend you speak to your HR advisor who will be able to offer advice and assistance.
If you do not wish to consent to the required pre-employment checks, you should raise your concerns with your HR advisor; they will be able to advise what impact this will have on the recruitment process.
If you would like any further information regarding data protection at Accurate please contact our switchboard and ask to speak to our Data Protection Officer who will be happy to help. Alternatively, please email us at ukdpo@accurate.com. You may also find our Data Protection Guide for Candidates helpful. A copy of this can be accessed via the ‘Candidate Engagement’ page of our website.
Once you have completed your online questionnaire you will be able to log back in at any time to download your personal data. In addition, and in accordance with your data subject rights under the GDPR you are also entitled to all records held in connection with your pre-employment screening. This right is referred to as a Subject Access Request (SAR) and should be made directly with your employer, who is the data controller in this instance. Please contact your HR advisor if you wish to make an SAR — they will be happy to assist.
We would love to receive your feedback! Please feel free to get in contact at any point, but especially once you have been through the entire screening process. We value your opinion greatly and are always keen to share positive feedback with our employees, as well as use any constructive feedback as an opportunity to improve. You can submit a ‘Complaints and compliments’ message via the ‘Contact Us’ page on our website.
If you are having any difficulties completing your online questionnaire, please get in contact with our helpdesk at support@veroscreening.com or submit a ‘Technical support’ message via the ‘Contact Us’ page on our website.
Once the screening process is finished, we notify your employer. Accurate will not contact you directly. Screening is only one aspect of the onboarding process, so please contact your HR advisor if you have any questions.
In most instances, employees will not be able to start work until their screening has been completed. For this reason, please do respond as quickly as possible to any calls or emails from us, as this will help to keep delays to a minimum. If you have any questions about the progress of your screening, please contact your HR advisor as they will be best placed to advise you.
The decision regarding your start date is made by your employer and Accurate do not have access to this information. Please contact your HR advisor as they will be best placed to assist.
We will always try to complete your screening in the shortest possible time but, in some instances, we may encounter delays. For example, if we are waiting for responses from third parties such as past employers or universities. If you have lived or worked abroad, please bear in mind that overseas background checks can sometimes take a little bit longer. If we think you can help us reduce any such delays, for example by providing alternative contact details or supporting documents, we will let you know.
