Before the offer goes out
Criminal Background Checks, Before You Appoint Anyone
A criminal background check is a search of the South African criminal record held against one person's identity number or passport number. You send us the number, we submit it to the record centre, and the result comes back to you in writing. It is the cheapest hour you will ever spend on a hire, and the only one that is worthless the day after you have made it.
The short answer
Email the person's full name and their identity or passport number. It is submitted to the record centre, processing takes 12 to 48 hours, and the result is forwarded to you. There is no appointment, no examiner and nothing for the person to attend, because this check reads a record rather than questioning anybody.
Get their permission first. A record check needs the written consent of the person it is about.
Staff, candidates, suppliers. Anyone you are about to trust, not only the people you employ.
The result is a document. Forwarded to you in writing, the same as every other finding here.
Start to finish
How a criminal record check actually runs
Four steps, none of which need the person to be anywhere. This is the one service here that does not involve an appointment, so nothing about it waits for a diary.
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You email the details
The person's full name and their identity number, or their passport number if they do not hold a South African identity document.
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It goes to the record centre
The number is submitted for processing against the South African criminal record. Nothing is searched on a hunch and nothing is searched without the number.
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The centre processes it
This is the part that takes the time, and the time is the centre's rather than ours. A quiet week comes back quickly and a busy one does not.
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The result is forwarded to you
In writing, to the person who asked for it, and to nobody else. What you do with it is your decision to take and to record.
Before you send it
What to have in hand before you ask
A check that arrives complete is a check that goes straight through. A check missing one of these comes back to you as a question rather than as a result.
Their written permission
A person's criminal record is their private information, and it is checked with their consent rather than behind them. Most employers take it on the application form, which is the easiest place to put it.
The number, exactly as it reads
An identity number, or a passport number for somebody who is not a South African citizen. One digit out and the search returns somebody else's record or nobody's.
The full name that goes with it
Names as they appear on the document, not the name they go by. It is what lets a mismatch be spotted rather than passed on to you as a result.
A little more time than you think
Send it when you shortlist rather than when you are ready to sign. The processing time is the record centre's and cannot be shortened by asking.
The same for suppliers and contractors
The people who invoice you and the people who come onto your site are checked the same way as the people you employ, and are asked for consent the same way too.
A list, if it is a group
Taking on a team rather than one person, send the names and numbers together in one email and they are handled as one job rather than as a queue.
Two different questions
A record check and a polygraph do not ask the same thing
People often ask for one when they wanted the other, so it is worth setting them side by side. A record check reads what the state already holds. An examination tests the account a person gives you now. Neither one substitutes for the other, and for an appointment most employers want both.
| Criminal background check | Polygraph examination | |
|---|---|---|
| The question it answers | Is there a criminal record held against this identity? | Is the account this person is giving me a truthful one? |
| What it reads | A record already on file with the state. | The person, on questions agreed with them beforehand. |
| Who has to be present | Nobody. It runs off a number. | The person, for about an hour, in a closed room. |
| What it misses | Anything never charged, never prosecuted, or done elsewhere. | Anything the questions were not built to ask. |
| Best used | On every shortlist, before an offer goes out. | Where the role carries real exposure, or where something has happened. |
Plainly
What this check covers, and what it does not
A screening service that lets you believe it checked more than it did is worse than no screening at all, because you will act on it. So here is the boundary, stated before you buy rather than discovered afterwards.
What it is
A search of the South African criminal record against one identity, returned to you in writing.
- South African citizens by identity number.
- Foreign nationals by passport number.
- One person or a list, at the same turnaround.
- Anyone you are about to trust, employed or contracted.
What it is not
It is a criminal record check and nothing wider. Where you need one of these instead, say so and it is quoted as its own piece of work.
- Not a credit check and not an affordability report.
- Not qualification or employment verification.
- Not proof of innocence. A clear record is a clear record, no more.
- Not an investigation, which is the work for what is not on file.
Questions
What employers ask about background checks
The ones that come up before the first check goes through. Anything about examinations is answered on the polygraph testing page.
Do I need the person's permission?
Yes. A criminal record is private information about that person, and it is checked with their written consent rather than behind their back. The simplest way to handle it is a consent line on your application form, signed at the same time as everything else, so the permission is already in hand by the time you shortlist.
It also spares you an awkward conversation later. A candidate who has agreed in writing to be checked is not surprised when they are.
What do you need from me to run one?
A full name and an identity number, or a passport number where the person is not a South African citizen. That is the whole of it. Send it by email and the check goes through from there, with no appointment to book and nothing for the person to attend.
Why does the turnaround vary?
Because the processing is done at the record centre rather than in this office, and its queue is not something anybody here controls. A quiet period comes back at the fast end of the range and a busy one at the slow end. Nothing about paying more moves it, which is why the honest advice is to send the check the day you shortlist rather than the day you want to sign.
Can you check somebody who is not South African?
Yes, on a passport number. Be clear with yourself about what that gives you though: it is a search of the South African record, so it covers what a person did here. A record held in another country is not in it, and no South African check will tell you otherwise.
What does a clear result actually prove?
That no criminal record is held against that identity. It does not prove the person has done nothing, because plenty is never reported, never charged and never prosecuted. That gap is exactly the gap a pre-employment examination is for, which is why the two are so often bought together for a role that carries real exposure.
Can I check a whole team at once?
Yes. Send the names and numbers in one email and they are handled together rather than one at a time. It is the usual way an employer runs it when a shift, a site or a department is being taken on, and it is also how a company catches up on staff who were appointed before checking was routine.
Can I check suppliers and contractors, not just staff?
Yes, and the people who come onto your site without being on your payroll are the ones most often missed. They are checked the same way and consent is asked for the same way. Put it in the contract rather than raising it after the fact.
What does a criminal background check cost?
Ask the office, on 082 545 2449 or at spotonpolygraphceo@gmail.com. It is priced separately from the examinations on the pricing page, and the answer depends on how many people you are putting through. Ask at the same time as the quote for any examination you want run with it and both come back on one number.
Next step
Send the number, and the record comes back in writing
One email starts it. If you want an examination run alongside it, say so and both come back on one quote rather than as two separate conversations.