top of page

The Guide to Homecare Onboarding

Updated: Jun 1, 2021


Now more than ever, there is a need to perform background checks and onboard care workers as quickly as possible. While this need for speed could compromise security and the objective of safer recruitment, this does not have to be so. Our guide will explain how:

Streamline the Process

Demand for care workers is high, so the last thing anyone wants is to encounter unnecessary and avoidable delays. There are several ways the process of pre-employment checks on employees can be streamlined:

  • Put the onus on the worker: By making the worker submit their own details and documentation, time can be saved by cutting out the unnecessary stage of waiting for the information to be sent to you for you to input. Our research shows that by making the worker submit their information, over half of DBS checks are complete within three working days, meaning the compliance process can be completed quickly with minimal input from yourself.

  • Have a central point where information is stalled: A lot of valuable time can be wasted by having to reinsert the same information multiple times for different checks. There are platforms out there that only require the information to be inputted once, and then apply for the appropriate checks after.

  • Have role-specific bundles so you know you’re requesting the right checks: It is not always easy to know what checks are required for each role you are hiring for. Platforms exist that take all the worry and research out of this, by having industry and role-specific bundles that know what checks are needed for what role.

Ensure the Process prioritises Safer Recruitment

It is all very well making the worker input their own information to save time and money, but how do you know that the information the worker is submitting is true, and that they are who they say they are? This is a problem for any industry, but especially pertinent for a high-compliance industry such as care.

Certain steps can be taken however, to ensure your compliance process is both swift and secure.

  • Facial Recognition Technology: By having facial recognition as part of the identity check, you can ensure that the worker you intend to hire is who thy say they are without having to meet them in person, a considerable bonus for the foreseeable future.

  • Leave no stone unturned: It is important that any gaps in employment history are filled, and that all the information from the various checks adds up. By having everything sent off from a central point, it is far easier to flag up any discrepancies. This makes your workplace more secure and takes a lot of the stress out of the compliance process.

  • Prioritise safer recruitment: Another aspect of ensuring a more secure and robust compliance process is an attitudinal one – prioritising safeguarding and making sure accurate and relevant results are returned and seeing pre-employment checks as the first stage of the onboarding and safeguarding process rather than seeing compliance checks as an inconvenience and a stage to just get done as quickly as possible.

Keep the Process Simple

It is important, particularly in high compliance industries, to have all information related to compliance all in one place for audits. It is all very well having all the information in one place while the checks are happening, but it is easy to store all the certificates and results in a disorganised way once they arrive. This can make the already stressful process of audits and urgently retrieving information when necessary more difficult.

It is vital to have a platform that stores all check results in one place. This way, your new hire can start work before the paper certificate arrives, and updates can be made with minimal fuss and effort.


Photo by Dominik Lange on Unsplash

bottom of page