How Far Back Do Background Checks Go for Employment

Unrestricted background checks would mean a huge invasion of privacy for every potential employee. Different countries have different rules regarding what sort of information a private investigator can look into about a potential employee.

In the UK, employers can only ask private investigators to perform background checks in specific scenarios and on specific issues. If an employer uses information that they were not entitled to, there can be legal consequences.

An employment background check performed by an investigator can contain any one or all of the following types of information:

• Right to work in the country (UK)
• Criminal records
• Health records

A private investigator may not have to perform each of these checks.

In the UK, certain types of criminal records will only be relevant for a certain period of time. This means that after this period, even if a private investigator uncovers the information, you can't legally deny the person a job for that reason unless the DBS check says they're not suitable for the job. This, however, only applies to sentences of less than 4 years.

As far as health records go, in cases where these are needed, the scope of the checks will be determined by the role. Most of these checks will only be concerned with the health status of the individual in the present.