Why introduce electronic identity document checks if you don’t have to?

By David Park | June 6, 2018 | HR & Recruitment

We work with two main types of business: those that have to introduce some form of identity validation technology – due to enforced compliance requirements – and those who choose to introduce it – perhaps because they are worried about making checks in the face of high staff turnover or fall into a ‘high-risk’ sector. No matter which pool your organisation falls into, you can benefit from electronic identity document scanning, not just to drive compliance and find fraudulent documents, but in ways that you may not expect…

Must do

We have implemented identity validation technology at over 100 locum agencies recruiting medical staff into the NHS. They fall into what we call the ‘must-do’ category, since the NHS Procurement Framework tightened guidance on the use of electronic identity document validation for temporary staff.
Also in this category are organisations whose customers mandate the use of identity scanning, such as suppliers of contract labour.

Want to

Other customers approach us because, as the focus on illegal working intensifies and their workforce becomes increasingly diverse, they want a simple way to ensure that the people they are engaging with – employees, customers or contractors – are who they say they are.
For example, we installed our scanners at a large construction business acting as prime contractor on a high-profile construction project: they need to protect their interests and can’t afford (either financially or for their reputation) to have illegal workers on their sites. Other ‘want-to’ customers include restaurants, retailers, cleaning and security companies with a highly dispersed and transient workforce. They are looking for a fast way to make identity checks and demonstrate compliance to their clients.

Whichever pool they fall into, the majority of our customers are seeing genuine identity documents and only finding fraudulent documents as an exception. But they do benefit in other ways from electronic scanning:

 Save administrative time

The majority of the businesses that approach us are already running some form of identity checks, usually by requesting ID, checking, photocopying and signing it and filing it away in a drawer. Some organisations check against an online reference database, some use UV pens and some keep a spreadsheet showing visa expiry dates too.

For the ‘want-tos’, this is probably enough to be compliant but it’s all also hugely time-consuming! Checking a document using an online service or desktop scanner, however, takes just a few seconds. The electronic report that is produced can then be instantly stored against a HR record and retrieved for audit purposes and when a visa expires, the system can let you know that too. So businesses using technology to validate documents find that it actually saves them time!

 Relieve the burden

We think it’s a big responsibility for an HR or on-boarding team to decide, without the support of the right technology, whether to accept a document and allow someone to become an employee, tenant or customer. Our technology gives you the ‘safety-net’ and the confidence that the identity documents you accept are genuine. We work with one customer who installed a scanner because they were in the ‘must-do’ camp – as a recruitment agency providing temporary nursing staff to the NHS. They had been relying on staff to make manual document checks. However, our technology helped them to quickly find their first fraudulent passport, which failed due to a MRZ code error and an incorrect UV image – things which would have extremely tricky to spot by eye. With scanning technology in place, they are no longer relying on their staff to be document experts and allowing them to focus on those documents that are suspicious.

 Enhance your brand

Electronic scanning gives your customers confidence in your brand; it lets them know that the staff you are supplying and those representing your company have been verified and are who they say they are. Lots of our customers see document validation technology as an innovation which gives them a competitive advantage. Peartree Cleaning, for example, validate cleaning staff using our mobile App and believe it gives their clients peace of mind and confidence in the Peartree name. Read the case study here.

Introducing electronic identity scanning doesn’t have to be a complicated and expensive process. And, whether you are introducing scanning because you want to or because you have to, it can help you to drive compliance but also protect your staff, your brand and drive huge efficiencies.

Find out more

Why not get in touch to find out more about how our identity validation solutions could help your organisation?