Increase in screening of job applicants
In the media image: Teslariu Mihai on Unsplash
Employers are screening more job applicants to minimise the risk of problems later on. Assistant Professor Elina van 't Zand spoke to ‘EditieNL’ and warns of the impact of this development: 'The Netherlands has become a real screening country.'
More and more companies are having job applicants screened to assess their trustworthiness. They engage specialist screening agencies to carry out the screening. The Netherlands currently has no fewer than 353 of such screening agencies. According to Elina van ’t Zand, we’ve become a real screening country. ‘On an international level, and particularly in Europe, we’re ahead of the rest.’
For most job applicants, the screening procedure will not cause unexpected problems. The agencies check, among other things, the candidate’s qualifications and their certificate of good conduct (in Dutch: the Verklaring Omtrent het Gedrag (VOG)). But, sometimes the screening goes even further. For example, a check is done of a Credit Registration Office (BKR) entry to gather information about a person’s debts. A job applicant’s past can also be subjected to a thorough examination. The assistant professor warns about the impact of such checks on the employment prospects of people with a ‘blemish’: ‘Just when you think you’ve served your sentence, that’s when the punishment for some people really starts.’
More information?
Watch the full EditieNL broadcast (in Dutch)
Listen to the 'Spraakmakers' radio item (in Dutch)