When choosing an employee screening company, you need to ensure that the company you choose to use is compliant with the necessary laws and regulations. We’ve broken down what screening companies need to be compliant with to be a safe service provider for your company.

Compliance For Screening Companies in South Africa:

  • Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA)
    • POPIA requires individuals to give informed consent before a company can process their personal information. POPIA also requires that this information remain secure and confidential.
  • Data Security and Retention
    • Personal information and data need to be properly secured, encrypted or otherwise protected. Companies need to have and maintain a variety of security measures to ensure data is secured.
  • National Credit Act (NCA)
    • If your background check company includes credit checks in its services, you must adhere to the NCA’s requirements, including obtaining consent and providing consumers with access to their credit reports.
    • The NCA also requires that a company remain up to date and trained on any new or updated laws and regulations.
  • Fair Credit Reporting
    • Similar to the United States’ Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), South Africa has its own requirements for fair credit reporting. Background check companies must provide consumers with copies of their credit reports upon request and follow the procedures for handling disputes.
  • Regulatory Authorities
    • Depending on the nature of your background check services, you may need to register with or obtain licenses from regulatory authorities. For example, the National Credit Regulator (NCR) oversees credit reporting agencies, and the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority (PSIRA) governs security-related checks.

There are several highly specific regulations that need to be met to perform many other screening and vetting services, most importantly, receiving consent from the candidate and safely securing the information is also necessary for a screening company to remain compliant.

To perform a legal background check on an individual, one needs written consent from the individual to perform the background check, personal information must not be retained for any longer than is necessary to achieve the purpose for its collection. If there is no legal requirement to keep the information, it should be deleted.

The same is true for qualification verifications, in which the individual must provide consent, their ID document, their name and surname and a copy of the qualification in question.

Criminal record checks, require a consent form from the candidate, their fingerprints taken by a SAPS approved biometric fingerprint reader (SAGEM MSO300), and a copy of their ID.

iFacts values compliance and comprehensive, transparent information above all else. We are compliant with the National Credit Regulator (NCR); the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA); the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR); the Credit Bureau Association (CBA); and the Professional Background Screening Association (PBSA).

We offer a variety of services as well as a fully integrated online platform, with free training for all users, real-time data, and results, with easy to read, comprehensive reports. We also have access to South African repositories of footprints and fingerprints for use in criminal record checks.

iFacts, the leading provider of employee screening and vetting services, should be your service provider of choice when it comes to hiring.

Hire with confidence. Hire with iFacts.