Employee screening

To run a company, you need staff you can trust. By screening (potential) employees, you may reduce the risk of hiring someone who cannot be trusted. It can be useful for integrity-sensitive positions in your company such as:

• managers
• employees who handle money and goods
• employees who work with children, elderly people, sick or disabled people
• employees who have access to sensitive information, sensitive areas (machines, hazardous chemicals) or essential infrastructure (power, ICT)

In addition to job applicants, you can also screen interim staff, self-employed contractors, employees provided by temporary staff agencies, trainees and volunteers. You can also subcontract the screening process to a private investigation agency.

Both judiciary service Justis and the Dutch Data Protection Authority may be able to help you if you need more information on screening issues.

How to screen employees?

For a background check, you could contact the personal references provided by the job applicant or look for relevant information on the Internet. When doing so, you may only request information that is relevant to the position for which the job applicant has applied. You are not allowed to ask for information about their health. You could also consult a blacklist to determine whether a job applicant's name appears. If a Declaration of Conduct (verklaring omtrent het gedrag, VOG) is not mandatory for the position, you could ask the candidate for one yourself.

Security screening

Some positions require security clearance at confidential level. A security clearance investigation is part of the recruitment procedure for a position of this type. In the event of a positive outcome, the Dutch Intelligence Agency, the AIVD, issues a declaration of no objection (verklaring van geen bezwaar, VGB).

Screening staff

In some sectors, Justis (Ministry of Justice and Security) screens staff continuously, for instance in the child day-care industry and the taxi services industry. Do you want to prevent internal crime? There are several measures you can take. Also the Dutch Centre for Crime Prevention and Safety (CCV) can advise you on these issues.