I have been offered a job contract in a Swiss company which says that I am required to pass the pre-employment background screening based on my signed consent. The contract says that the employment is conditional upon completion of the screening with a result with is considered satisfactory by the company. I can start my position only after completing the screening, and if the start date is postponed due to the screening then the salary will not be paid for this period. The company expects me to resign from my current position before their screening is finalized.
I know that the companies check their candidates, and this is absolutely normal. But I have never seen this kind of conditions in the employment contact. I thought that the company checks the candidate first, and once fully satisfied then they send the contract. I am also not sure if it is safe for me to resign from my current job under under such circumstances. I am not expecting any findings but don’t want to be in a situation when their screening process gets stuck for some reason and I am affected. The company said that this screening takes on average one month, and the start date of the new job is February 1st.
What is this pre-employment screening which requires a signed consent from the candidate and takes so long? Have you ever done this?
Would it be correct to assume it is a job with some kind of financial services company? They are the only ones I have ever heard of to require your signed authorization. And it is needed to check police and court records.
Assume it is a financial services company then the check will most likely be outsourced to a third company. These companies services usually cover:
- police records (here and abroad)
- court records (here and abroad)
- reference letters
- education
- previous employers and any other contact they may have there
- newspaper clippings (here and abroad)
And so on.
I was given such reports last year as part of my work and they were pretty detailed.
My advice would be if you have any doubts at all, then don’t resign until they have cleared you.
This is pretty standard, if you have nothing to hide I wouldn’t worry about it.
And in case the checking process takes longer and they already allowed you to start work, the contract would have commenced and they would need to give you standard notice whatever this is.
As long as you have no major differences in job/course title or start/end date for all jobs or education achievements in the past 10 years, and a valid passport/ID, it’s just a formality.
Of course the safest route would be to not resign from your current role until you have received confirmation that your screening results are satisfactory.
But if that’s not possible due to your notice period and when they want you to start, you either have to reject the offer or accept it and undergo the check.
I decided to reject the offer but not to withdraw my consent for screening. I will propose they finalize the screening and come back to me in 6 months or so if they are still interested, with a proper contract. I won’t hold my breath that it happens
This is what I would do as well. In between resigning from your job and your screening being completed, a lot of things can change and you might be left out in the open.
Job offers in US are conditional provided you pass a background check BEFORE your start date - but you don’t have to resign from the current job.
There the screening is mainly your credit (financial) and criminal background and drivers history AND a drug test which they’ll give you 24 hours to complete. They don’t do the education check at least when I was there last. Part of Sox compliance.
In CH - all they have done (I’m in Pharma) is just ask for a copy of my diplomas, reference letters and references - no criminal, no financial, no drivers - and these have been for positions where I have budget sign off authority.
So is this happening now in CH? I hear now i the US - now they Now demand Anal examinations, blood typing, DNA Testing and they wish to now confirm the candidate voted for Putin - I mean Trump.
I am working in CH pharma for years and it always was as you say — copy of diplomas, references. I also never seen anything like this, not even sure it’s legal. This could be just an exception, one company’s practices.