Right to Work check technology for Recruiters: a cost or a benefit?

Right to Work check technology for Recruiters: a cost or a benefit?

This is a guest blog by business partner Sarah Croft at TrustID 

Most recruiters are aware of what’s required around Right to Work (RtW) checks on applicants. Since guidance changes in 2022, recruiters are increasingly considering introducing Identity Document Validation Technology, or IDVT, either to support physical Right to Work (RtW) checks in-house or remote RtW checks through an Identity Service Provider (IDSP). However, some may still be concerned about whether IDVT, adds unnecessary cost and complexity to their checks. We spoke to a range of recruiters about these concerns and the benefits that using IDVT gives agencies.

Time is money

Among the many drivers influencing core technology decisions for recruiters, two stand out: time and money. In today’s market, any delay in getting an offer out could cost you a candidate, while any delay in getting an applicant in front of the employer could cost you the opportunity. The faster you can carry out fully-compliant onboarding checks, the better. That said, when margins are tight, any RtW solution needs to be cost-effective. There’s a constant balance between performing compliant checks quickly and keeping costs low.

To deal with the need for speed, thousands of Recruiters are turning to certified IDSPs. The list of providers to choose from on the Government website has grown since April 2022 when RtW guidance allowed employers to make digital checks on eligible candidates.

Digital checks from an IDSP pre-empt the need to meet applicants face-to-face, which saves recruiters both time and money arranging physical meetings, especially in an increasingly remote world.

For Dario Longhitano, talent and resourcing manager at Elite Associates’ temporary division, this is a major benefit; “Considering that our team does not work from the office every day, it is less complicated to arrange digital checks than schedule appointments for manual checks.”

Replacing laborious manual processes with technology is an accepted solution in many areas of business. When it comes to processes that carry intrinsic risks, like identity checking, automation can remove potentially costly human error. Recruiters only need to carry out a cost-comparison between performing a check and not, to understand that it’s a small price to pay. In general, a ‘pay-per-check’ cost comes in at around the same as the coffee you might have bought the candidate at a face-to-face meeting. Losing out on an opportunity or candidate, or the potential cost to the recruiter’s brand value of backtracking on a candidate, is far higher than the cost of performing a digital check.

Complexity vs employee experience

Another area of concern for some is the possible complexity of the process and systems when using technology not built with the end-user in mind. A successful digital RtW solution has to be easy to use in order to be adopted by people who aren’t technical experts. Jack Player, Director of Workforce at 18 Week Support explains that they were looking for “a solution that enables an efficient employee experience through onboarding”. Having adopted IDVT from TrustID, he commented that it is “really simple and easy to use and allows our onboarding team to work with speed”.

Watch this short video for more information on how a digital Right to Work check can be carried out in just a few easy steps: https://www.trustid.co.uk/digital-right-to-work/#video

All in all, recruiters are telling us that using an IDSP for document validation and Right to Work checks gives them greater peace of mind, that the technology involved is simple to grasp and doesn’t cost the earth.

The recruiters we spoke to were unanimous in the advice they’d give to a Recruiter thinking of finding out more: “Be diligent, consider your processes and do your research!”

To find out more about IDSPs, IDVT and the questions you need to ask, please download our guide.

You can find more information about TrustID here.