Pre-employment checks

Pre-employment checks.

All recruitment processes are time consuming and costly, so you want to make sure you are recruiting the right person for the correct role.

When there is a limited choice of applicants, and you don’t feel there is anyone who fully meets all the requirements, it could be wise to readvertise rather than to employ the one who might be the best of the bunch.

During the interview process be sure to ask any questions about any inconsistencies e.g. gaps in employment, rapid changes of roles and if the last relevant work experience is some years ago ask how they have kept their skills up to date.

Remember to ask questions in a manner that elicits a response e.g. How would you handle…? Tell me about…? Rather than a yes/no answer.

If you have less than 20 employees, the 90-day trial period might give you the confidence to give someone ‘a go’ and if they have the right attitude then most people will have the ability to pick up the necessary skills.

Always undertake reference checks, with the applicant’s consent, and preferably before making an offer. You should always have an employment application form completed for preferred candidates that obtains their consent for this and other checking and you can download our template at  Employment application (healthypractice.co.nz)  Ask questions about work ethic, amount of leave taken, be alert if there is any hesitation in response and always ask if they would re-employ the person. If nominated referees aren’t immediately contactable make any offer conditional on receipt of satisfactory references. 

It is the employer’s responsibility to confirm that applicants are entitled to work in NZ, and visas should be checked for validity and any conditions on the Immigration NZ website.

Professional registrations should be checked on the online registers available on all professional body websites.

All roles in health practices where government funding is received, are required to undergo safety checking under the Childrens Act 2014.  Mostly this is undertaken through NZ Police vetting system, but some contractors undertake this process through an external provider CV Check NZ Ltd.

An organisation can use safety check information completed on their behalf by another organisation, if it has been carried out within the last 3 years, they are confident it meets the necessary requirements, and they have a process in place to verify the identification of the worker.

Until this safety checking has been completed, new employees should not be allowed to work with or provide service to people under 18 years of age, without a parent or guardian present. Under this legislation a child is defined as someone under the age of 18, who is not married or in a civil union. There are some instances where the age is raised to 21 and 25.

Children’s Act 2014 No 40 (as at 01 July 2023), Public Act – New Zealand Legislation

Depending on the role you may also wish to undertake a Credit check, through a credit agency or Criminal check through the Ministry of Justice.  These checks should be role dependent and previous cases have been dealt with through the Privacy Commission when there seemed to be no correlation between the request and the role.

Remember to get written consent from applicants prior to undertaking these checks, unless the information is publicly available.

Finally, if you have a suitable candidate that you want to make an offer to then download the relevant template agreement at Sample agreements (healthypractice.co.nz) and offer at Letters of offer (healthypractice.co.nz).