The employment background check industry has evolved and changed throughout 2021 and 2022 with Covid-19 affecting the entire labour market. Read 10 Latest Hong Kong Background Check Trends to learn more about the changes here. This article focuses and lists out the common Hong Kong background checks being requested and the corresponding practice.

  • Employment Verification: The current practice in conducting employment verification in Hong Kong is to connect directly with the HR department or record-in-charge for the information verification. Depending on the seniority of the role, the Hong Kong background check service package would commonly include employment verifications that cover 5 years or 7 years from the current date. Some employers would include 2 to 4 employments as a maximum coverage in the Hong Kong background check package depending on its own budget. 
  • Performance Reference Check: Connecting with the previous supervisors for performance comments have been a norm in Hong Kong for many years. The latest practice in the Hong Kong background check package is to connect with 2 to 4 previous supervisors for comments relevant to the hiring decision.
  • Criminal Record Check: As a requirement for many industries, criminal record checks for countries resided in the past 7 years (depending on legitimate interest) are often required.
  • Qualification Verification: Employers would usually go with verifying the top education qualification plus the professional qualification relevant to the job nature. As job candidates might have a global background studied in different countries, a global qualification verification is often included in the Hong Kong background check package.
  • ID/Passport Verification: Without the correct names and identities, a proper background check cannot be conducted. ID/passport verification serves as a fundamental background check complementing the entire Hong Kong background check package.
  • Directorship Record Check/Conflict of Interest Check: A Hong Kong background check service package for senior roles would often require a directorship record/conflict of interest check. This searches any current directorship within the Hong Kong region.
  • Adverse Media Search: Leveraging data in the public domain, the Hong Kong background check service package would often include an adverse media search to find any potential matching record relevant to the job.
  • Credit Report: a copy of Hong Kong credit report is often being requested in a Hong Kong background check service package if the job candidate will be involved in financial related and sensitive roles in an organization. 
  • Bankruptcy Record and Civil Litigation Record Check: For financial soundness and other requirements for different jobs, bankruptcy record and civil litigation record check would be pursued in a Hong Kong background check service package.
  • Global Adverse Dataset and AML Check: This is a common background check to be included in the Hong Kong background check package for the finance industry and organizations being regulated by different professional bodies

Other than these 10 common background checks, industry specific background checks are often being pursued to fulfill different regulatory requirements as well as minimizing the risk in hiring the wrong individuals for the job. Learn more about our Hong Kong Background Check Solutions by connecting with us directly for more information.