Record checks on criminals and offenders can help you to avoid hiring someone you might not want to work with. An ordinary background check involves things like phoning previous references and seeing what they say. More detailed investigations involve checking databases to see whether people have been involved in any sort of crimes or misdemeanours. These sources of information are not always readily available to the general public unless you are of a particular level of clearance. You can do a general search online to see if any of your prospective employees’ names come up, but that’s about it.
In South Africa record checks on criminals and offenders must be performed by trained professionals. The scan will involve a thorough background scan to investigate any instances of previous involvement in crime, or history of violence. In cases where they employees will have to work with children, you are free to browse the National Sexual Offenders Register, but because of government bureaucracy this is quite difficult to find. Most of your prospective candidates will be on there, but it might be worth performing the search nonetheless. It really depends on the type of work that you do, and the work that you’ll need the person to do if they work with you.
The background to these types of clearance searches is the worry that you will hire someone who will either steal from you, or has been involved in a crime. Databases are rarely perfect, so what is most important is to do the best you can and investigate any suspicious activity immediately. It is always a good idea to be honest with your candidates and get clearance with them. You want the best employees you can possibly get, so explain to them that as part of the interview you will be performing record checks on criminals and offenders.