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In 2024, almost everyone has a social media presence somewhere on the internet. Social media screening is a quick, easy, and cheap way for employers to gain insights into prospective candidates and gives them a different insight into their personality and interests. Social media background checks are increasingly common, with up to 90% of recruiters or HR teams using them as part of the hiring process in the UK. Social media checks are rarely used as the only criteria for deciding who gets a job or not. More commonly, they are just part of the picture along with Right to Work and identity checks, references, performance at interview and academic qualifications.

Why Do Employers Conduct Social Media Checks?

Social media checks are unlikely to be able to confirm academic qualifications or previous employers, although if you have a LinkedIn or Facebook profile, make sure the details you’ve listed on there are the same as the details on your CV. Social media checks are more about making sure there are no red flags around the suitability of a candidate in terms of their posts, the accounts they follow, or the other social media users who they engage with.

Common Reasons for Failing a Social Media Check

Social media checks are just part of the information used to make a recruitment decision, but there are certain things which employers are looking out for which may call your character into question. These include:

• Discriminatory Remarks: Posting discriminatory or offensive comments online, whether in public forums or on sites such as Twitter/X.
• Provocative Pictures: Inappropriate or NSFW pictures may be seen as evidence of showing poor judgement, or bad decision making.
• Excessive Partying: Extensive evidence of excessive partying and drinking may raise concerns about reliability and punctuality.
• Bad-Mouthing Employers: Negative comments about past or current colleagues, companies or bosses reflect poorly on a candidate’s interpersonal skills and professionalism. Many companies have a policy forbidding workers to comment negatively online.
• Unlawful Activity: Evidence of criminal behaviour posted online can seriously damage your prospects of being successful in your job hunt.
• Violent Remarks or Actions: Posting violent content, even in jest, may be seen as inappropriate and another indication of poor judgement.
• Inconsistent Information: Discrepancies between a candidate’s CV and social media profiles, such as posting about leaving a job in May when your CV says August, is going to raise doubts about honesty.
• Social Media Absence: While not having social media is a personal choice, choosing not to use social media at all is unusual and employers may question why.

Employers who want to look at your social media as part of their background screening programme should be transparent about what they are doing and why. If you know that your Instagram, TikTok or Facebook account is going to be looked at, you have the chance to audit the feed and delete anything which you would prefer your employer not to know about. Remember that you can’t control what other people post, so consider also who you follow online.

Employing a new director for your business without conducting the proper director checks can be a recipe for disaster, causing potential damage to your company’s reputation. Director checks are not as well-known as other types of identity checks and background checks but should be an important part of the recruitment process.

Director checks involve careful checking and verification of information related to individuals holding or applying for directorship positions in companies. These checks look at suitability, integrity, and financial stability of potential directors. They are especially important for directors who are involved in business partnerships, investments, or mergers and acquisitions. Checks help to safeguard both the business and its reputation, by making sure that you do not have someone in your business with a history of fraud, criminality, or financial mismanagement.

Carrying Our Director Checks

The director check looks at all current and past directorships. It will uncover any previous disqualifications as serving as a director, or current restrictions on directorial roles. Background screening companies will typically look at the following sources of information when completing their report:

• Companies House – maintains a public database containing information about registered companies and their directors. Director checks will access this database to verify details like the director’s name, date of appointment, resignation history, and current directorships.
• Director Disqualification – The UK’s Insolvency Service looks after the Disqualified Directors Register. This lists individuals banned from directorship due to misconduct, fraud, or other serious matters. Someone who has been legally banned from acting as a director is not allowed to be employed in a similar role.
• Companies Act 2006 – Director checks may include a review of the Companies Act 2006, by looking at things such as whether annual accounts have been submitted on time, and that there have been no other breaches of the legislation which could call character into question.

What are Employers Looking for?

Employers are looking at a wide range of factors when running a director’s check. Along with the basics of dates of appointment, details of previous companies, and any history of disqualifications, they are also looking at:

• Financial Stability: Director checks may involve a credit check on directors and their associated companies.
• Professional Conduct: Some director checks delve into professional conduct and reputational of directors. This may involve looking at whether there has been any misconduct action against a director, or whether any of their companies have been involved in other legal breaches.

Some details revealed on a director check, such as discovering an individual is banned from taking that role, will immediately rule out a candidate from working as a director. Other information may be less of a deal-breaker and the decision about whether to employ will depend on many other factors including past experience and performance at interview. Director checks can be much more in-depth than other background checking, simply because there is more at stake for a company if they get it wrong and employ someone who either damages the business’s reputation or is tempted to commit fraud.

2023 marked a turning point in the way in which employers run background checks on people applying to work. 2023 saw a surge in online background checking, increased reliance on technology-driven identity checks and adaptations in response to remote working. Increasingly doing identity checks online was partly in response to the shift to home working after the pandemic, and partly in response to new government laws and technologies for checking the immigration status of foreign nationals wishing to work in the UK. However, identity checking agencies are now warning about the rise of fraudulent documents which all employers and applicants going through the process should be aware of.

Most Common Fake Documents

The most common fake document presented in connection with Right to Work and other identity checks is a passport, which made up 45% of cases of fake document detection in 2023. A passport is the key document which anyone needs to prove both identity and nationality. Spotting a fakes British passport when you have many genuine originals for comparison is more straightforward. Trying to spot a forged foreign passport is far trickier and may involve more detailed checking for anyone applying for a job.

Where Do the Fakes Come From?

Although there are still many faked international documents in circulation, 68% of all faked documents detected in 2023 were British or Irish. This fact underlines to employers that they should be conducting just as many checks on familiar documents as they do with unfamiliar passports. Both the British and Irish government have put lots of information online about the common security features to look for.

Imposters

Imposter fraud is slightly different in that the documents presented are genuine – they just don’t belong to the person who is presenting them. A similar issue is found with genuine share codes proving the Right to Work being shared with people they do not refer to, usually for financial gain.

Industry Sectors

The industry most affected by identity fraud and document fraud is hospitality, with restaurant chains accounting for 20% of all detected fraud in 2023. Perhaps more worryingly, a growing industry sector targeted by identity fraud was healthcare, with 9% of all fraudulent activity. The main message is that every industry sector can be affected by document fraud, so it is the duty of every employer to check, and something that every job applicant should be aware of. If you think your employer is running more checks than they ever did previously, that’s probably true. But it’s nothing to take personally.

Bear In Mind

Employers across all industries in the UK, irrespective of size, can safeguard against identity fraud by knowing what the risks are, and taking steps to recognise fraudulent documents when they come across them. Fraudsters are clever and always coming up with something new to stay one step ahead of the detection techniques. What this means for job applicants is more rigorous checking before starting work, and perhaps more in-depth background checking, even for entry-level positions.

An airside pass, also referred to as an airport security pass or airport identification card, gives authorised workers access to secure areas within airports in the UK. These secure areas, collectively known as the “airside,” are not just restricted zones such as boarding gates, baggage halls and runways, but also the shops, bars and restaurants which are past the security zone which all passengers must go through. Airside passes are an important part of airport security, ensuring that only designated personnel can enter restricted areas.

Roles Requiring an Airside Pass

There are many different roles which might require you to go through the identity checks and background screening required for an airside pass. Some roles which might need airside passes include airline staff, baggage handlers, maintenance personnel, air traffic controllers, and anyone who is working in a duty-free shop or café after airport security.

People applying to work in an airport will undergo the usual background and identity checks to establish who they are, and where they live. They will also usually have a basic DBS check, which looks at current criminal records. For those working in a highly restricted area such as the baggage hall or air traffic control tower, they will usually have a higher level of background counter-terrorist screening, looking at their wider family and associations. These checks can take many weeks to complete.

Getting an Airside Pass

Getting an airside pass for working in an airport involves a background check and vetting process. Employers will want to look into criminal record checks, employment verification, and security screenings. Procedures can vary by country, airport, and job responsibilities, with people in the most sensitive roles having the highest level of checking into their background. The process for getting a background check, and the sorts of checks which will be carried out should be fully explained when you first apply for an airport-based job.

People who only need to visit an airport occasionally, such as a retail district manager or engineer who might be called in to fix heating, will be eligible for a contractor or temporary airside pass. Generally, temporary pass holders will not need to go through the full accreditation and checking process but will be restricted into where they are allowed to go. They may also have to be supervised by a fully checked member of staff when they are in the restricted area.

Validity of Airside Passes

In the UK, airside pass validity can vary based on pass type and the job the holder is employed to do. Generally, passes are issued for a specific length of time. This is usually five years for airline employees, with the pass being automatically cancelled if not used for 60 days or more. Once the pass expires, the holder will have to go through the vetting and background checking again. Employers will have reminders in place to make sure employees start the checking process before their current pass runs out, meaning they can keep working without disruption.

The concept of a share code check for identity checks as part of pre-employment screening is relatively recent in the UK, introduced by the government in July 2021. The idea of a share code is supposed to make life easier for Human Resources (HR) teams, by allowing them to quickly verify who someone is, and whether or not they have the right to live and work in the UK through a trusted government portal.

Only workers who were born overseas and who are not British citizens can get a share code to prove their immigration status and right to work in the UK. Employers must still have a procedure for checking the nationality and status of everyone working for them. In the case of UK passport holders, all that is needed is for the employer to note that they have seen a UK passport, and to note its number and expiry date.

What Is a Share Code?

A share code is as a unique identifier which allows employers to instantly verify a worker’s immigration status. Eligible workers first provide their documents and identifying information to the UK government who checks over their paperwork and allocates them a unique code. This code then allows potential employers to see the information held about the worker by the government and make sure they are employing someone legally.

After being allocated a share code, a potential employee only needs their date of birth and the share code number to prove their right to work in the UK. This process helps HR avoid unnecessary paperwork and delays as the government has already done the required checks on the worker concerned.

How Does a Share Code Check Work?

Not all workers in the UK who have a foreign passport are allowed to take part in the share code system. To be eligible, potential employees must have a biometric residence permit (BRP) number or visa, and a biometric residence card (BRC) number. If they meet these requirements, recruiters can then access the government database using the share code to instantly see the individual’s employment eligibility.

Getting a Right to Work Code

If you are a foreign national who is legally allowed to work in the UK under the terms of your visa, then going through the process of getting a Right to Work code could save a huge amount of time when it comes to applying for jobs. You will need to first visit the government website and give all the details of your identity documents including Biometric Residence Permit. Once approved, you can then use your share code as many times as you like.

Not all employers are up to speed with the share code system, and some may still ask you to bring in your documents to prove your right to work in the more traditional way. Digital verification of identity is still a new concept, and it may take some years until companies fully appreciate the advantages of doing things online.

Anyone looking for a job knows that big gaps on their CV between finishing one job and starting another can be a red flag for employers. The temptation is often to tweak lengths of employment to extend employment periods and minimise the gaps, but it this really a good plan?

Most employers now have a detailed process for checking out the backgrounds of the people who are going to work for them. This might include asking you for a DBS check if you are working in a position of trust, or basic identity checks to make sure of your immigration status in the UK. Another part of this process is fact-checking your CV, and it is at this point of the process when any gaps in your CV might become obvious.

Studies suggest that a significant number of CVs aren’t factually correct. In fact, up to 80% of CVs have been found contain either slight exaggeration or downright lies, potentially leading employers to hire unsuitable candidates. The growing issue of CV fraud has led to many recruiters beefing up their checks on CVs and looking into any employment gaps.

Understanding Employment Gaps

An employment gap just means a period of time between jobs which the candidate has left unaccounted for. Minor gaps of a few weeks or a couple of months are commonplace, and nothing to worry about. Extended gaps—beyond a few months—may raise concerns for employers. Gaps exceeding a year tend to be viewed as much more serious and something which an employer will usually want to investigate.

Why Employment Gaps Are Concerning

Employment gaps can make employers suspicious about what candidates were up to during periods of unemployment. Failure to demonstrate what you were doing during a lengthy period of unemployment may shed doubt on a candidate’s work ethic and personal drive. Gaps might happen for various reasons, including criminal convictions, termination from a previous job, or innocent scenarios like career breaks, travel, maternity leave, or health issues.

Rather than leaving long periods unexplained on your CV, explain what you were doing during the period away from work. Employers are interested in people who fill their time effectively – so if you were volunteering or learning a new skill during the time you were out of work, tell them that on your CV. Don’t be tempted to lie about dates of employment to cover gaps or claim a job which you didn’t have as this is more than likely to be discovered.

How Gap Analysis Works

Employees will usually take the information on a candidate’s CV, or from the application form they have submitted, and will then contact their previous employers to ask them to confirm dates of employment and position held. The two sets of information will then be compared to see if there are any discrepancies.

Benefits of Performing a Gap Analysis

A gap analysis reviews a candidate’s prior experiences, performance, and qualifications. Longer gaps revealed on a CV without a good explanation can prompt questions about employability, potentially revealing conflicts with previous employers or a criminal history.

If you’re running a business, you’ll know how important it is to make sure that everyone working for you has the right to work legally in the UK. The Home Office is intensifying efforts against illegal employment, particularly in the hospitality sector, with a recent announcement that fines are to triple, and that enforcement operations are to be increased by 50% through the rest of 2024. If you are not running identity checks on your staff already, then it’s not only your bank balance which could take damage. The bad publicity and reputational damage associated with being found with illegal workers can deter customers from coming to your business, at a time when hospitality is struggling to recover from the lasting effects of the Covid pandemic.

The Home Office civil penalty for employers found to be employing illegal workers is to rise from £15,000 to as much as £45,000 per illegal worker in February 2024, and from £20,000 to £60,000 per illegal worker for repeat offenders.

Importance of Checking Right to Work

The Home Office enforcement around illegal working has been focused on the hospitality industry, as these types of casual part-time jobs are very attractive to those with little experience and without the correct paperwork. Hospitality businesses, whatever their size, should assess their compliance with right-to-work regulations now, to minimise the chances of inadvertently employing an illegal worker.

Right to Work Compliance To-Do List

• Be prepared for surprise inspections – make sure you have escalation policies and processes in place for any communications received from the Home Office or any unannounced site visits. Front-of-house staff should be trained on how to respond during an unannounced visit, to minimise impact on customers.
• Review right-to-work processes – Policies and processes for right-to-work should be robust, and thorough checks should be carried out before someone starts work. There should also be ongoing tracking and monitoring of visa expiry dates for employees with time-limited visas.
• Get your filing organised – Check your existing paperwork to make sure that the business has the correct documentation on file for all employees (both UK and non-UK nationals). This is the starting point for any Home Office inspection. If you are an accredited government sponsoring agency to bring workers into the UK, you will need more detailed paperwork so should make sure this is all filed carefully.
• Delivery Workers and Similar – Take time to think about your business’s approach to checking right-to-work evidence for those who are not direct employees, such as self-employed delivery riders or drivers. Student visa holders, for example, are not permitted to undertake self-employment.
• Training – make time for regular training for staff responsible for conducting right-to-work checks in the UK to keep their knowledge up to date.

Avoid the Bad Publicity

Employers facing penalties are publicly named on the Home Office website and such cases are routinely covered in the local press and online. Failing to keep up to date with your right to work responsibilities could easily mean the end of your business.

The level of checking which applicants for new jobs must go through has increased significantly in recent years. Increased fines and enforcement around illegal working has forced employers to run proper identity checks on both permanent and contract workers, and for other positions, employers opt for a thorough background screening check on potential hires. This screening is thought by many large employers to be essential as a way of protecting their business against the cost of hiring someone who then turns out to be unsuitable, is dismissed and then more recruitment done.

Understanding Staff Vetting

Staff vetting is all about investigating a candidate’s background and qualifications before their employment begins. This process is designed to make sure that as far as possible, employees are well-suited for their roles. It also tries to identify any factors that might mean they are unsuitable for the company or workplace. Some industries have standard background checks due to legal requirements, such as those within education, healthcare, and government sectors, where employees often handle sensitive information. Roles in those sectors might need a DBS check or for candidates to prove their academic qualifications. These requirements are usually clearly stated on a job advert.

Consequences of Poor Background Screening

Inadequate background screening, or not bothering to check up on the history of a candidate at all, can have several consequences for a business, whatever its size and industry sector. Without a system for proper background screening, employers can risk a range of consequences including:

• Inappropriate hires – if you are not fully looking into the background or qualifications of people you are hiring to work for your company, you are risking taking on people who are just not skilled enough. Similarly, if you are applying for a role which requires certain skills, be prepared to prove your qualifications.
• Fraud – internal fraud and theft can be a serious issue for many businesses and can bankrupt even larger organisations. Taking on someone without taking up references or running a basic DBS check is just asking for trouble.
• Negligence – if an employer takes on someone who then goes on to cause harm to a colleague or customer, then the employer may be found to be negligent if they haven’t run the right checks before allowing them to start work. These cases are often well-publicised and can in addition bring bad publicity for your company.

For all these reasons, employers are taking background screening more seriously than ever. It’s something to be aware of if you are applying for a position and to be prepared for. Don’t take any requests for original exam certificates or detailed references personally; it’s a level of checking that everyone will have to go through, and you are not being singled out. Employers should be clear about what checks are being done and ask for written permission for things like credit checks. Provide all the information requested as quickly as possible to clear you to start your new position promptly.

An investigative snapshot by a consumer magazine has uncovered dubious and fraudulent advertisements offering UK driving licenses for as much as £600 – without the need to take a driving test. A series of suspicious claimed to offer a “registered driving licence” without a test in “just a few working days”. Another company was found to be offering a replacement driving licence service for people who had racked up points for speeding or similar, promising to clean up your driving history. With so many fakes around, how do you spot them if you are identity checking a new employee or tenant who has produced a driving licence as evidence of who they are?

DVLA and Driving Licences

The only way to get a legal driving licence in the UK is to sit and pass a theory test, and then book and pass a practical test. The DVLA has confirmed that these ads for driving licences on social media are not connected to the DVLA and are recognised scams attempting to obtain payment or personal information. The DVLA argued that the sites will never deliver a fake driving licence and are purely there to get money from people desperate to pass their test. People learning to drive must apply for a provisional licence before starting driving lessons or taking theory and practical tests.

Spotting a Fake Driving Licence

There is lots of information online about how to spot a fake driving licence. This is mainly aimed at the hospitality sector, as driving licences are commonly used as fake ID by teenagers trying to get into pubs or clubs before they are legally old enough. Some fakes are very obvious to anyone who has seen a genuine licence, but others are trickier to spot. If you are checking the identity of someone who has given you a driving licence as part of the proof of who they are, here’s some key things to look for.

• Raised type – the surname and driving licence number on a genuine licence are printed in raised font which feel bumpy as you run your finger over them. This feature is often missing in a fake licence.
• Hologram – on the front, a genuine licence has a hologram of a steering wheel, on the reverse, the person’s face. Both of these holograms should “move” when you move the licence.
• UV light – a genuine driving licence should have features which shine under UV light. This feature shouldn’t be relied on by itself though, as some fakes are printed on this type of paper too.

Foreign Driving Licences

It can be more difficult to spot a fake driving licence issued by a foreign country, just because we are not as familiar with the genuine documents. Some of the basic checks such as putting the licence under UV light and checking that holograms move should be completed, and there is lots of information online about security features in documents issued in other countries. Always get professional advice if you are still not sure about a document you have been given.

In early 2022, the Government introduced updates to the existing Right to Work laws. The Right to Work checks were introduced in the UK around a decade ago, as a way of making sure that everyone who has a job in the UK is both in the UK legally and has the right visa for working. These identity checks are a legal requirement, and employers who are found with illegal workers who have not been checked out can be fined. Over the years the system has changed, with the most recent change being the unveiling a Digital Right to Work Scheme. This new approach allows employers to remotely authenticate the identity of individuals holding applicable documents through an Identity Service Provider (IDSP).

Options for Identity Checking

Employers now have the flexibility to choose from three options when they are carrying out Right to Work checks on people they are thinking of employing. These are:

• Digital checks for eligible applicants, mostly overseas workers with a share code, but also British and Irish passport holders.
• Return to physical document Right to Work checks or asking applicants to show their documents in person.
• Combine both checking methods.

Understanding Digital Right to Work Checks

A Digital Right to Work check enables applicants with valid proof of identity to remotely verify their identity and establish their Right to Work. For UK and Irish citizens with in-date biometric passports or passport cards, this means logging into one of the identity verification portals approved by the government and entering details such as passport numbers. The identity portal then provides a report to the employer confirming document authenticity and UK work eligibility.

For people who were born outside the UK and who have an eVisa, they can generate an official share code which can then be shared with the employer as proof of right to work.

Key Checks on Right to Work Documents

When conducting a digital Right to Work check, employers will never physically see the original document or the person uploading it. Therefore, to prevent imposter fraud, employers must ensure the document matches the employee by using biometric facial matching. This matches a selfie image taken by a webcam or similar to the applicant’s identity verification image. Employers should additionally confirm the employee’s identity when they start work, either through a face-to-face meeting or a video call.

Checking a Share Code

Overseas nationals can present a share code for Right to Work verification. Once generated, the share code is valid for 90 days. Employers can use it to log into the government’s “View and Prove” website. Once verified through the website, employers must still check the documents against the person presenting themselves for work to make sure they are the true owners of the document and of the share code. There is lots of help on the government website for both employers confused about the Right to Work system, and for workers who are trying to get through the process efficiently so that they are able to start a new job.