Employment Screening & Background Check Firms

Background screening is, in basic terms, the process of collecting information on individuals who are being considered for a specific purpose (employment, tenancy, promotion, dating or marriage) which may be used in determining the applicants’ eligibility for such purpose.

However, it is most commonly practiced by employers during recruitment. It helps the employers to make a clear and true assessment of the candidate regardless of the information shared by the candidate during the interview process or in his/her CV/resume.

The typical turnaround period of 5-7 working days (for local subjects) and 8-10 working days (for international subjects) will start after the payment is made or a purchase order is issued.
This will also depend on the number of subjects and the area of checks involved.

At the end of the turnaround period, we will issue a Background Screening Report for each subject containing the findings we collected from the background screening exercise.

We will need you to submit your subject’s / employee’s personal documents to us usually via email. The type of documents we need will depend on the area of ‘checks’ you would like to do.

For example, if you would like to do a basic pre-employment check, i.e. Criminal Record Checks & Employment History Verification, we will need these documents:

1. Letter of Consent & Authorisation signed by the subject/employee
2. A copy of the subject’s / employee’s Identification Document (MyKad or Passport)
3. A copy of the subject’s / employee’s latest resume/CV
   Additional Area of Checks may require additional documents of the subject/employee.

Anyone, even though it is more commonly done by employer / recruitment agencies during hiring or the promotion of existing employees. This practice is usually done in-house by the Human Resource Department or outsourced to background screening services providers like us.

The screening exercise is also commonly done in other circumstances such as:

• For tenancy purposes. Homeowners who want to check their tenants / potential tenants.
• Dating or marriage. Checks on potential spouses and partners.
• Reference checks.

In addition, for *Financial Institutions, it is made compulsory by Bank Negara Malaysia according to its Policy Document: Employee Screening which was issued in March 2018 for these institutions to do the background screening during recruitment. You may refer to Policy Document: Employee Screening.

*Licensed banks, licensed investment banks, licensed Islamic banks, licensed insurers, licensed takaful operators, prescribed development financial institutions, financial holding companies.

If you are an employer, the benefits include:

1. Improving the quality of hire
2. Increasing the safety and security of the working environment
3. Reducing employee turnover
4. Avoid legal troubles
5. Increasing the reputation of the company / organisation
6. Reducing the cost of hiring by avoiding bad recruitment
7. Providing additional insights into some intangible aspects of hiring
8. Improving the regulatory compliance

It will depend on the number of checks you would like to do.
Typical charges can be from RM100 per subject.

Yes

Currently, there is no legislation in Malaysia that directly regulates this industry/service. However, our practices are in compliance with the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA 2010). As required by the PDPA 2010, we will only commence with the background screening/checks on the subjects who have given us their written consent. The data and information collected during the screening exercises are treated as sensitive Personal Data.

Additionally, for background screening for Financial Institutions, we comply with the Policy Document issued by Bank Negara Malaysia on Employee Screening which was issued on 9 March 2018.

Yes. Our practices are in compliance with the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA 2010). All the information you submit to us will be processed in accordance to the requirements by the PDPA 2010.
In addition, to better protect your sensitive information, the Background Screening Report that we issue after we have completed the background screening exercise will be password-protected / encrypted. The unique password to open the document will only be shared with the client’s personnel who requested for the screening.

Most of our findings will be obtained from the latest available public or private records. We do not have the authority to amend or update this information even if the subject’s status has in fact changed. If you or your subject finds that the information is false or should be updated, you may channel the dispute to the relevant authorities for further action.

As to any other disputes, you may forward it to our Dispute Center. If any amendment or correction is required, a new report will be prepared for you at no additional cost.

All disputes must be informed to us within 7 working days from the date of issuance of the Background Screening Report. This is because we will only retain the documents used for the background screening exercises within that period. Once the period ends, all the documents will be expunged in compliance with the PDPA 2010.

For more information, you may speak to one of our professional consultants.

You can easily reach us by sending us an email at info@ms-screening.com or you can speak to one of our professional consultants at 1-800-88-1919 and let us know how we can assist you and your organisation.