DUE DILIGENCE GUIDE
Pre-employment screening, done fairly
Good screening confirms what a candidate has told you, with their knowledge and agreement. It treats every applicant for a role the same way and gives them a chance to explain.
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Consent and data protection
Screening involves personal data, and some of it, such as criminal history, needs particular care. Kenya's Data Protection Act 2019 expects that data to be handled lawfully, fairly and openly. In general terms, that means the following.
- Tell the candidate which checks you will run and why, before you run them.
- Obtain their consent before contacting institutions or former employers, or searching for a criminal record.
- Collect only what the role justifies. A junior post rarely needs the checks a finance director does.
- Keep results secure and limit who can see them.
- Keep the data no longer than you need it, and let the candidate see and correct what is held about them.
This is a general outline, not legal advice. Your own obligations depend on your organisation and the role, so take legal advice where you are unsure.
What does each check confirm?
- Identity verification checks whether the identity documents presented are consistent and show signs of alteration, so every other result is tied to the right person.
- Academic verification confirms with the issuing institution that the qualification was awarded, and when.
- Employment verification confirms job titles, dates and responsibilities with former employers. Rehire eligibility is reported only where the former employer shares it.
- A criminal record check covers police clearance (PCC) and litigation history, through official channels and with the candidate's consent.
Employment checks confirm roles and dates. They do not cover salary, pay history or payroll records.
How to run screening fairly
Set the checks per role
Decide in advance which checks each position needs, and apply the same set to every finalist.
Screen at the right stage
Run checks on shortlisted candidates or after a conditional offer, not on everyone who applies.
Explain and obtain consent
Give the candidate a plain description of the checks and record their agreement.
Review results against the role
Ask whether a finding is relevant to the job before giving it weight.
Keep a short record
Note which checks were run, what came back and how you used it in the decision.
Consistency is the heart of fairness here. If two finalists for the same post face different checks, or one result is weighed more heavily for one person than another, the process becomes hard to explain to the candidates and to anyone who later reviews it.
What screening cannot tell you
- Whether someone will perform well, fit your team or behave honestly in future.
- Anything a former employer or institution declines to share, or no longer holds.
- Matters that never reached official channels or the courts.
- Why a gap or a change of employer happened. Only the candidate can explain that.
Treat screening as one input alongside interviews, references and your own judgement, not as a replacement for them. A clean result lowers some risks; it does not remove the need to manage and support the person you hire.
When something does not match
Discrepancies are common and many are innocent: a job title that changed, dates remembered loosely, an institution that merged or renamed itself.
Ask the candidate
Share the discrepancy and give them a fair chance to explain or provide documents.
Check the explanation
Where it can be confirmed, confirm it before drawing conclusions.
Decide on relevance
Weigh how the finding bears on the role, and record your reasons.
Never reject a candidate on an unexplained mismatch without first asking them about it. A fair hearing protects them and your decision.
Terms in this guide
Questions
Is candidate consent required for pre-employment checks in Kenya?
For the checks described here, yes. We obtain the candidate's consent before contacting institutions or former employers, or carrying out PCC and litigation-history searches.
Can an employment check confirm a candidate's previous salary?
No. Our employment verification confirms job titles, dates and responsibilities; it does not cover pay or payroll records.
What should I do if a qualification cannot be confirmed?
Tell the candidate and ask for an explanation or supporting documents. A delay or a renamed institution is often the reason.
When in the hiring process should screening happen?
Usually once you have a shortlist or have made a conditional offer, so you only process the data of people you are seriously considering.