Employment screening news

A recent BBC News article helps to illustrate how AI and digital job advertising could lead to discrimination when recruiting for new employees.

Facebook has been accused of sexist job advertising and breaking equality laws in the way its advertising algorithm targets individuals. Campaign group Global Witness conducted an experiment testing the algorithm and who it showed job ads to. One striking example was a job ad for nursery nurses. Of the individuals shown the ad, 95% of them were women. The only specification of the advertisement was to show it to UK adults.

Digital tools and AI can help improve efficiency and increase the number of individuals who you can potentially reach out to for employment. It is important to use these tools properly and we have been working with the Better Hiring Institute to ensure equality when hiring new employees.

From 6 April 2022, employers need to be aware that right to work checks for Biometric Residence Card (BRC), Biometric Residence Permit (BRP), and Frontier Worker Permit (FWP) holders will be changing.

Currently, it is acceptable to check a physical BRC, BRP, or FWP as a valid proof of an individual’s right to work in the UK. From 6 April 2022, these physical documents will no longer be accepted. BRC, BRP, and FWP holders will need to demonstrate their right to work status using the Home Office online service only. Holders of these documents can obtain a share code which allows employers to check right to work status using a candidate’s date of birth and share code. The service can be accessed on GOV.UK at: View a job applicant's right to work details - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

There is no need for employers to retrospectively check the status of BRC and BRP holders who were employed up to and including 5 April 2022. Employers will also maintain a statutory excuse against any civil penalty if the initial checks were done in line with the guidance that applied at the time the checks were made.

Today the Home Office and DCMS publish more updates on the new right to work regime from April 6th with our Director, Keith Rosser quoted.

Supporting this important work, Keith was quoted as saying:

"Digital innovation to a previously manual process will revolutionise the way UK employers hire, operate, and structure their business in future. Digital Right to Work checks are more secure and faster meaning as we build back better from the pandemic, UK hiring will be quicker and safer. The use of technology means companies across the UK can hire from any talent pool regardless of location aiding the levelling up agenda and helping UK companies compete internationally."

We have always been advocates of digitising right to work, in 2018 we piloted and trialled the online checking service, have been committee members of the Home Office policy group ECHO for five years, and have supported the move away from face to face checks.

For more information, see the full announcement here: New digital identity checking for landlords and employers to tackle immigration abuse

68% do not believe there is enough time to implement a digital right to work solution by April 6th.

Less than 1% of employers don’t want digital right to work checks and 76% believe a digital solution will be better at identifying fake documents.

Thank you to our speakers for being with us at our webinar on digital right to work yesterday where we were joined by DCMS, Home Office, DBS, and Parliamentarians.

We also wanted to say a huge thank you to the 400+ employers who joined and inputted thoughts and feedback.

Keep up to date and involved with our upcoming webinars which have a strong focus on critical topics for employers.

Our next webinar is on digital criminal record checks with fantastic speakers Mark Sugden and Sarah Clifford from DBS. Be quick - tickets are going fast! You can register here - https://lnkd.in/dSp5yYGh

That’s not all, we have a whole year of insightful webinars that you can take a look at and book ontohere

Were you one of the 400+ organisations who joined us last week with Home Office, DCMS, DBS and Parliamentarians on our digital right to work in hiring webinar where we discussed the implications of the 6th April deadline?

Read our blog where we explain the key session insights.

With the government’s announcement that digital right to work checks are to be made a permanent option for employers, it’s now becoming apparent exactly what that means and what the next steps are for businesses.

We give you all of the information in our latest blog post - you can have a read here.

A month in to the new year and the recruitment sector is rising to meet the challenges that 2022 may bring.

With technological developments and new processes being implemented to respond to the ongoing pandemic, as well as the adoption of new practices to ensure inclusive and robust hiring procedures, the trends we’re likely to see become mainstays in 2022 are embracing and adapting to the ever-changing world we’re living in now.

Here, we’ve set out three of the biggest innovations we’re likely to see being adopted in recruitment this year, and how they could benefit businesses in the long term.

69% of UK workers were ready to move jobs in what’s been dubbed ‘The Great Resignation’ – and what’s more, only 16% were worried about trying to find a new one.

With just 11% of workers moving jobs in a typical year, 2022 is shaping up to be a choppy one. But what’s brought all this on? Read our latest blog covering how you can respond here.

If you were one of the 150+ organisations who joined us last week with DBS on our digital criminal record checks webinar then you will have heard some fantastic insights.

If you weren't able to join us or you have a few minutes to spare, we've written a blog covering the key session insights, we hope you find it useful.

We also wanted to say a huge thank you to the many employers who gave their feedback and raised questions, we're here if you have any queries about the upcoming changes for you as employers and we're happy to help.

Extension to the current deadline of 6th April for six months.

This means employers can continue to hire in the same way they have been since March 2020.

We have provided evidence which has gone a long way to persuading Ministers according to Home Office officials.

Thank you to the over 400 employers who joined the event in January, your contributions directly led to this extension.

You can read the full announcement here.

Do you know who you are hiring?

We're always working hard to ensure we are giving you the best information on all things screening to keep your business safe. Our mission is to create a safer world of work so we've teamed up with CIFAS, Better Hiring Institute, and Fighting Fraud and Corruption Locally to create a Local Authority toolkit.

This will provide a wealth of guidance on all things screening and will help to ensure that you do all that you can to avoid insider fraud.

Look out for the launch which will be happening very soon, feel free to get in touch with us for more information too.

UK Government to launch two new initiatives to boost employment opportunities for women! 

Hoping to support individuals who are stepping back into work, or making their next career move in STEM sectors, the government realises it makes good business sense to share salary details at the beginning of the application process to avoid wage discrimination and close salary gaps. 

Additionally, the new programme will support returners across the UK – providing the opportunity to refresh and grow skills before re-entering the workforce. 

The program is set to run for two years, and the evidence gathered will enable and provide a base for organisations to provide their own ‘returner’ programmes.

Read more about the pilot here.

Huge congratulations to our Director Keith Rosser who gave his first 1st ever guest lecture at the London School of Economics!

The "socialisation of digital technologies in hiring" looked at the ongoing evolution of "RecTech" and what it means for bias, ethics, and regulation in hiring against a backdrop of mounting legislation.

Keith believes digital hiring:

- will shorten hiring times by 50%

- will help levelling up

- will create challenges of bias we must overcome

- could help the UK overcome the barriers and prejudices that cause problems for our diverse groups

- must be developed in a more balanced way, not just with private sector agendas

- must take into account fairness and safety as much as speed and efficiency

Digital technologies are changing worker rights, employment models, and creating both opportunities and challenges in the gig economy.

Demand for nursing assistants is on the rise due to staffing shortage caused by Covid-19. 

Unfortunately, some scammers in Zimbabwe have taken it upon themselves to turn this crisis into a get rich quick scheme by setting up fake nurse aide training to take peoples money. See the recent article here.

Our Director Keith Rosser is Chair of JobsAware and he says: "With the way we work and look for work continuing to evolve, job scams are becoming increasingly common and sophisticated. We know how damaging it can be to fall victim to such scams now more than ever. That is why it’s important to educate and arm job seekers with the understanding and support they need to recognise and report suspected fraud."

A GOV UK page, JobsAware platform, and social media campaign will be helping to advise people of the risks inherent in job searching. For more information check out the GOV website.

2/3 of employers think referencing will be the most difficult part of the hiring process post digital right to work and criminal record checks…

Is it right that only 61% of requested references are returned? What about the extra work for you to obtain the other 39%?

Here at Reed Screening, we've led on the introduction of digital right to work and digital criminal record checks, notably the area creating the most challenge for employers is referencing.

We are actively working with government & industry to improve the referencing process.

Wonderful Parliamentary Briefing held yesterday, which outlined the upcoming challenges around the future UK right to work scheme.

As of September 2022, 1 in 5 job seekers will become "second class" leaving 20% of the population at a disadvantage when applying for work.

With combined efforts and knowledge from the group the agreed next steps are to create a Parliamentary Briefing on the necessary changes to Right to Work, advise MPs on the impact to work seekers and engage with the relevant UK Gov departments.

Thank you to all who joined the fantastic session co-hosted by the Digital Policy Alliance and Better Hiring Institute, including Professor Jon G. Hall and Lord Ralph Lucas.

Did you know that the cost of a poor hire can be 50-150% of the annual salary of the position?

While it may outwardly appear to be simply a means to an end, the recruitment process is an integral part of your business. After all, it’s about the people you choose to run the day to day of the company.

Read our latest blog for both large and small changes on approaches to finding and choosing your next new hire.

Last week, our director & Chair of the Better Hiring Institute (BHI), Keith Rosser, was joined by BHI Advisory Board members Alison McDowell, and Philip Graham to take over our webinar.

They provided updates on "The Blueprint for Better Hiring in the UK" covering:

- the future of job adverts
- the future of job applications
- technology in hiring
- Digital Right to Work checks
- Digital Identity
- Education Credentialing
- Social Media Screening
- Campaign for Better Referencing
- Industry Better Hiring Toolkits

You can find the blueprint and more information about the BHI on their website.

We’re removing barriers for you, helping to get those much needed employees quicker.

Here at Reed Screening we’re all about making employee screening better for job applicants and employers alike and we’re always working hard to innovate pre-employment screening.  

Overall, referencing is the slowest part of the employment screening process. Having led on innovation with UK GOV to accelerate other parts of the processes, including digital identity, digital right to work, and digital DBS, referencing is now the focus.

So, welcome to Digital Careers! We've partnered with Konfir to offer instant employment verifications across the UK. Overhauling the outdated employment referencing process by saving time while putting employees back in control of their data.

To find out more you can read our blog post here.

Brilliant launch of the APSCo Compliance standard for healthcare at the House of Lords yesterday.

This is an amazing opportunity to simplify standards into one clear way of working for recruitment agencies and shows synergy with our mission to make hiring Faster, Fairer, and Safer

Our Director Keith Rosser is delighted to have been asked to Chair such an important initiative. This is a tool to create one global standard to simplify supply for recruiters in a complex sector dominated by conflicting compliance standards 

We should all be rallying to simplify standards wherever possible across industries and this is a fantastic step for healthcare recruiters.

There are only 3 months until you as employers can either use a digital route for right to work checks or you will have to either ask your applicants to physically come in or post their documents.

We’ve created a helpful e-book that we hope will be useful, you can access it here.

We are proud of our Director Keith Rosser, who was recently appointed to the board of a UK regulator for the labour market.

Keith has worked over 2 decades in labour markets and supply chains as a non-executive the Scottish Government, was appointed to the Ministerial Advisory Panel to the Taylor Review of Good Work and has developed co-regulatory practice within the labour market.

Keith believes “The GLAA's commitment to protecting workers, to raising standards within the labour market, and to tackling the erosion of work rights in our post pandemic labour market attracted me to the board position.”

Keeping children safe - Important screening changes in Education

The rise in concern about online behaviour has prompted the Department for Education (DfE) to include new guidance to ensure that we keep children safe.

We were delighted to provide feedback and meet with the DfE on the latest changes in Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) which is such an important document. One of the big changes of note is that online searches for all teaching staff should be carried out as part of your hiring process for all teaching staff from 1st September.

To read the full guidance follow this link.

Securing work after right to work goes digital on October 1st will be quite a job without an in-date passport.

How do we ensure that work-seekers without valid passports don’t become second-class job candidates?

Great to see our director Keith Rosser in Contractor UK here.

Nearly 500 UK employers joined our director, Keith Rosser, Anita Pali, and Selina Brumant from Home Office as speakers yesterday to hear the latest on the digital right to work scheme due 30th September.

We’re driving digital right to work across September with a number of upcoming events and insights - you can view our upcoming events here.

Reed have over 60 years at the forefront of work, come and work with the only business quoted by Home Office in their January press release showcasing our role in bringing this change about.

Because we’re open 24/7, we have been completing right to work checks at all times of the day, even at the weekends. Here are some key highlights:

- 3 minutes to conduct the digital check
- Over 90% completion rate
- 5 fake documents identified that could not have been using F2F/adjusted checks

Here at Reed Screening, we’ve been live with digital right to work checks for well over a month and can already see the benefit to candidate experience, onboarding times, and identifying fake documents.

In a recent poll of businesses:

Only 5% believe that face to face/postal right to work checks are safer than digital...

85% of UK employers believe that digital identity will make hiring safer, with the same percentage stating that there is not enough information available to identify fraud in the new scheme.

There have been a lot of changes around UK right to work and we are here to keep you prepared! Still have questions? Check out our digital recruitment e-book.

The use of Artificial Intelligence to analyse candidate videos and applications has been called a “pseudoscience.”

The COVID 19 pandemic’s ushering in of remote working has also ushered in a new age of remote recruitment. AI’s impact is already being called into question, with bias central to this criticism.

Completely removing humans from the recruitment process is not only ineffectual, but it is based on the misconception that technology is able to completely perform functions such as measuring a candidate’s suitability based on a video. This has been debunked by variables such as wearing glasses, sitting in front of a bookcase, and wearing a headscarf.

At Reed Screening, we advocate humans in the recruitment technology process to ensure that candidates are more fairly assessed against job-related characteristics as opposed to a full AI process that may ultimately discriminate against characteristics such as gender and race.

There are a lot of benefits to technology in the recruitment process and should welcome the opportunities that it brings, but we must be wary of software in its infancy that may be sifting out suitable candidates in the recruitment process.

Our joint aim was to drastically reduce the turnaround time of activity verification.

43% of requests have been completed within three hours and 70% within a day. 

What else did we learn? Take a look at our blog to find out.

Today at the Future Identity Festival, our Director Keith Rosser will be speaking on the future of work with digital identity.

We have seen that digital right to work checks have the potential to make hiring faster and safer, but how do we better safeguard against the rising fraudulent documents that have increased this year?

Hardwiring safeguarding into the hiring process is key to a fairer world of work.

The case for digital identity is great – but there is much to do. Keith will let us know the whys and hows of all things digital identity for onboarding.

85% of our surveyed organisations believe using technology for ID verification is safer as it can easily identify fake documents and people without the proper authorisation to work.

Unsure what the changes to right to work policy mean for you? In short, you can no longer conduct video right to work calls and must now either revert to face to face or go digital with a supplier.

90% of employers see the value that digital identity could bring to digitising employment

81% state that there are more challenges screening the contingent workforce than permanent.

We had a great session last week so we wanted to say a big thank you to Laura Dias from DCMS, Proff. Jon Hall from the Better Hiring Institute and our director Keith Rosser for joining us to talk all things gig economy and digital identity.

This week, our Director met with UK Home Office to discuss improvements to the current digital right to work scheme.

Throughout our 2022 webinar series, we have encouraged employers to provide their feedback on the scheme and hosted speakers from a range of expert fields such as government, legal, and digital identity, to provide their insights on the scheme and what their expectations are moving forward.

Our mission to create a safer world of work aligns with our partners and we are delighted to be at the forefront of influencing improvements to the UK labour market.

We are looking forward to seeing the implementation of a safer world of work for our clients and stakeholders, in addition to the wider UK labour market.

Here at Reed Screening, we are motivated by our mission to create a safer world at work.

We are delighted to be mentioned along with our project partners the Better Hiring Institute, the Disclosure and Barring Service, Skills for Care, Dominic Headley & Associates, and VBA Consulting on the gov.uk website regarding our involvement in the seminal Better Hiring Toolkit for Care.

We understand the importance of undertaking rigorous checks, and we were delighted to work with experts in the field of safeguarding to highlight and promote best practice in a sector as vital as care.

Amongst other things, we have delved into:
- How to obtain and provide effective references when recruiting
- How to promote a thriving safeguarding culture beyond the onboarding stage
- Simplifying an often-complex process of recruitment by promoting best practice

Reed Screening’s Corinne Peart was mentioned as being “extremely pleased to have worked on the vitally important Better Hiring Toolkit for Care. … At Reed Screening we are proud to contribute to helping such an extremely important sector hire quickly and safely.”

Today is the day of the webinar launch of the Better Hiring Toolkit for Care with our project partners!

We have worked tirelessly with our expert partners to compile this best practice guidance to make the sector safer. All of our work is driven by our mission to create a safer world of work and we are so excited to be contributing to this seminal document for a sector as vital as care.

The toolkit looks at creating and nurturing a safeguarding mindset as well as looking at what stages of the recruitment process that providers can ensure that they are hiring the right employees to work with the vulnerable people in their care.

Reed Screening’s Head of Engagement, Corinne Peart, is mentioned in The Future Identity report by OCR Labs, outlining how important an equitable Screening service is to here at Reed:

“Excluding those without the right availability, documents, device, or bandwidth, would reinforce existing forms of discrimination.”

Businesses need to make digital services available to customers of all demographics. The challenge is sourcing an identity verification solution that is device agnostic, free of dataset bias, and accessible in all languages and to all abilities.

You can download “The truths about identity and inclusion” report by clicking here.

Reed Screening are delighted to partner with the Royal Voluntary Service and GoodSAM to provide 24/7 ID checks for NHS Volunteer Responders!

The return of the incredible NHS volunteers ‘Check In and Chat’ and ‘Check In and Chat Plus’ services, mean that providing telephone support to patients who need a friendly call and encouragement to improve their mental health and wellbeing is more accessible than ever.

If you are interested in becoming a Volunteer Responder reserve, you can do so by applying via this link – don’t miss your chance to make a real difference!

We had a fantastic event with the Digital Identity team at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology last week with over 100 employers in attendance!

We found out that further digitisation of the hiring process is something that industry is keen to learn more about!

98% reported to already be able to see the benefit of digital identity in the hiring process.

80% reported that they were looking forward to digital identity being able to speed up the hiring process.

Thank you to the fantastic speakers Hannah Rutter and Alison McDowell, who gave us some exciting updates on work being done in government to make it happen.

We here at Reed Screening are delighted to shortlisted for The Firm Awards 2023 for the category of Supplier Innovation of the Year!

Innovation is at the heart of what we do, whether that is tailored packages to fit your business, or bringing you representatives from government to deliver updates on exciting changes such as right to work, we understand that value comes from much more than simply delivering a service.

Just some of the things that we have delivered include:

Worked on changing right to work policy, with Reed Screening being the only business mentioned in the government’s press release.

Working with expert partners to establish and promote best practice across sectors including a GOV UK launch in Care

Piloting the Online Checking Service when still in BETA for the Home Office

Building our own platform to deliver employee screening even quicker and more securely than ever before

Bringing you webinars with new changes to legislation from the government

We are delighted to be shortlisted with some fantastic organisations, and wish everybody the best of luck on the 8th June!

Last night we were shortlisted, and won, The Firm award for Supplier Innovation! We would like to give a shout out to all of our fantastic teams across Screening and Compliance, who go above and beyond daily to deliver a fantastic service to both active and prospective clients. This would not have been possible without you!

We are pleased to partner on the release of the Better Hiring Toolkit for Financial Services

The best practice Toolkit – which can be accessed here for free, provides practical, simplified guidance to support organisations to hire new employees against regulatory and industry best practices.

It has been compiled as a collaboration between safeguarding experts at the Better Hiring Institute, Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), Cifas, JobsAware, and us here at Reed Screening.

An effective, safe and fair (best practice) recruitment process will include a range of robust vetting checks – including detailed references at appropriate stages to ensure as much relevant information as possible is gathered about conduct and suitability. A thriving Financial Services sector is the cornerstone of a successful economy, and that success starts right at the hiring stage.

On the publication of the latest Better Hiring Toolkit, our Head of Engagement, Corinne Peart said:

“I am delighted to have collaborated with the Better Hiring Institute, Cifas, the Disclosure and Barring Service, JobsAware and industry on such an important Toolkit for the financial services sector. Reed Screening’s mission to create a safer world at work means that this joint initiative to streamline and improve hiring is extremely important to us. At Reed Screening we are proud to contribute to helping such an extremely important sector hire quickly and safely.”

Let us know what you think of the Toolkit, and feel free to share far and wide!

What did 78% of employers say that the most frustrating part of the hiring process was for them?

Here at Reed Screening, we exist to relieve organisations of the pressures that come with hiring, creating a seamless and streamlined process.

We are constantly looking to pioneer hiring, bringing you not only fantastic service, but also the latest hiring news and updates.

Our Director, Keith Rosser, is an officer of the newly formed All-Party Parliamentary Group on Modernising Employment. Speaking alongside Emma Hardy MP, Royal Mail and NHS Professionals in Westminster last Monday, Keith provided the context of what needs to happen to make hiring in the UK the fastest globally.

So, when 78% of employers say that referencing is the most frustrating part of the hiring process, we promote ways of making this faster and more efficient, looking to get new employees into work quicker whilst assessing their suitability.

Take a read of the article to find out how the event in Westminster went!

Our Director Keith Rosser appeared in HR Zone this week to promote the work of the Better Hiring Institute (BHI) and the Modernising Employment All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG). Keith serves as the Chair of the BHI and a officer of the APPG.

As a sponsor of the BHI, Reed Screening is proud how The Better Hiring Institute is leading the way in revolutionising employment practices.

The post-pandemic world has intensified the global hunt for talent, and the competition is fierce. To stay ahead, driving digital and flexible ways of working will be key.

Our Director and Chair of the Better Hiring Institute, Keith Rosser, appeared in The HR Director on the new cross-party group on Modernising Employment.

The new group, aimed at promoting the UK becoming the fastest place globally by reducing barriers and unnecessary red tape, will centre the work of the Better Hiring Institute and its members through both in-person events in Westminster, as well as virtual events, to maximise participation from organisations across the UK.

Reed Screening have supported the development of the newly launched Better Hiring Toolkit for Education Supply Chains, promoting best practice for schools and colleges in England and Wales when working with supply agencies.

The Toolkit provides simple guidance to ensure high standards in hiring and onboarding, which are critical in protecting pupils, the communities that schools and colleges serves, and the institutions themselves.

The Toolkit has interactive templates throughout for schools and colleges to use when establishing best practice.

Do you work in a school or college and want to read the Toolkit? Follow the link here.

Reed Screening Director Keith Rosser wins the Recruitment Impact award at this year's Recruiter Awards for his contributions around digital identity, safer hiring, recruitment, and background screening.

'He is one of the best friends the recruitment and its supplier industries could have – at the same time, he is also an avid supporter of the UK’s jobseeking community, law enforcement, and anyone who could be threatened by unsafe and illegal hiring activity online. For Keith, it’s all about safety in hiring and jobseeking, helping hiring in the UK to become the fastest globally and transforming the UK labour market'.

Read more about his award here.

Reed Screening Director and the Better Hiring Institute’s Chair, Keith Rosser, has appeared on the latest Institute of Director’s Inclusive Business podcast, zoning in on how a faster and safer labour market can also lead to a fairer one.

Take a listen to the podcast here.

Did you know that the DBS shared best practice to mark Safeguarding Adults Week, spotlighting the vital role that it plays to help keep vulnerable adults in the care sector safe.

Led by the Anne Craft Trust, Safeguarding Adults Week aims to highlight safeguarding sector key issues, facilitate conversations, and raise awareness of safeguarding best practice.

Click here to find out more and how you can get involved promoting best practice.

We are proud to have partnered with the Local Government Association, Better Hiring Institute, Cifas, Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), and Jobs Aware to launch the Better Hiring Toolkit for Local Authorities, a free to use guide helping organisations to make informed safer recruitment decisions.

The Toolkit aims to provide Local Authorities simplified guidance that supports best practice standards in the sector, whilst working to mitigate the growing risk of hiring fraud.

Reed Screening is committed to working with organisations to pioneer the hiring process to create a safer world at work. Click here to access the Better Hiring Toolkit for Local Authorities.

Over 60 organisations met in Parliament yesterday to discuss the evolving threats of Hiring Fraud, and how we can work together to tackle this.

Keith Rosser, Director of Reed Screening and Chair of the Better Hiring Institute, was joined by experts in fraud prevention to amplify the impact of Hiring Fraud on UK businesses and work seekers alike, with a focus on what organisations should consider when it comes to hiring and onboarding new employees.

What do you need to know about the latest changes to right to work?

Earlier this year over 400 organisations joined our webinar with UK Home Office to explore the latest developments in right to work legislation.

Since then, we have worked in collaboration with the Home Office to produce free updated guidance for organisations, providing answers to the most frequently asked questions.

To receive a copy of the free guidance, contact screening.enquiries@reed.com to be sent your version today.

We have been nominated for three In-house Recruitment Supplier Awards!

Pioneering the world of Hiring is no easy feat, but that is exactly what we have been doing here at Reed Screening!

Reed Screening has been working tirelessly as a Board Member of the Better Hiring Institute to:

Improve UK Hiring though participation as an officer for the Modernising Employment APPG making UK hiring the fastest globally, improving opportunities to all through a fully inclusive hiring process, and harnessing technology to reduce barriers and protect from scams, fraud and discrimination.

Innovate screening practices, from developing our Assured ID Digital Right to Work checking solution has supported over 200,000 through a digital hiring journey, and designing an instant referencing platform to provide rapid referencing which has seen 81.1% of candidates able to verify employment periods instantly through Open Banking or other government payroll records.

We are delighted to have collaborated with the Better Hiring Insitute, Cifas, S T Smith Ltd, and be the only screening provider, to launch the UKs first free comprehensive guidance on Tackling Hiring Fraud, supported by the Prime Minister’s office.

Fraud is at epidemic levels in the UK and the consequences have never been higher. In our efforts to pioneer the future of hiring, we have worked with the Prime Minister’s anti-fraud champion and other members of parliament to lead the conversations on Hiring Fraud, working in collaboration to drive awareness and implement practical steps to mitigate this.

Reed Screening is committed to making hiring the safest it can be, and this guidance aims to outline practical steps which organisations can take to mitigate the risks of Hiring Fraud.

Click here to access the free guidance.

Did you know that Disclosure Scotland is expanding its digital services to introduce disclosure results? We are delighted to support such a great organisation, with our Director, Keith Rosser, serving as a Non-Executive Board member of Disclosure Scotland since 2019, proudly supporting the organisation to help it achieve its strategic objectives.

Disclosure Scotland’s PVG online application service will be available to all of Disclosure Scotland’s customers later this year, an important development in the move towards the implementation of the Disclosure (Scotland) Act 2020.

The act will improve the disclosure system in Scotland by removing unnecessary barriers for people with convictions as they seek employment or other opportunities and enhance the PVG scheme. Find out more about the act here.

Do you hire in Scotland and want to get involved? You can watch DS' 'Reform in Action' documentary by clicking here.

Reed Screening are delighted to be signatories of the Better Hiring Institute's Better Hiring Charter, a response to the Government’s Back to Work Plan supporting employers to get more people back into work.

The Better Hiring Charter is a culmination of the outputs of the BHI’s Modernising Employment APPG, with broad support from organisations across the labour market as well as Parliamentarians to make UK Hiring Faster, Fairer and Safer.

Our mission here at Reed Screening is to Pioneer Hiring, and we are pleased to support the BHI in their mission to transform the UK labour market.

You can find out more about the Better Hiring Charter by clicking here.