Compliance: every HR professionals’ favourite topic. (Kidding, sort of.)
Over the last few years, the UK government has introduced a boatload of new and updated legislation directly affecting background checks: the Worker Protection Act, ECCTA, and BPSS, to name a few.
But why?
The latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) crime report shows fraud increasing exponentially across England and Wales.
It was already by far the most frequently reported criminal offence in the UK, accounting for four out of 10 criminal reports. And on top of that, the latest figures show a 31% increase over the previous year.
If you work in HR compliance, you should be concerned and act now, if you haven’t done so already. With the failure to prevent fraud (FTPT) offense legislation just weeks away, tightening your controls is more important than ever.
Employee-related fraud directly hits internal controls, operations, and bottom lines. Insider fraud should be a major boardroom concern, especially with the rise of remote and hybrid working.
Just recently, a UK bank employee was just sentenced to three years in prison for fraud and money laundering, after stealing over £345,000 from a single victim. Because of his sensitive role, he had the ability to carry out 22 fraudulent transactions.
You don’t want that to happen to your company. And according to recent UK government guidance, employee-related fraud is an area you can actually do something about.
How? With better background checks — Zinc's specialty.
Worker Protection Act 2023: A legislative win for workplace safety
First, some good news: the ONS data also showed a decline in sexual assault incidents that aligns with the implementation of the Worker Protection Act 2023, legislation aimed at tackling workplace harassment and assault. The early evidence suggests it’s working.
This is a fantastic use case for how well-designed regulation leads to positive behavioural change.
And it brings us nicely to the potential of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act (ECCTA) to make positive change. Fraud is an urgent problem, but it’s not all doom and gloom.
ECCTA’s “failure to prevent fraud”
Two years after receiving Royal Assent, the failure to prevent fraud provision under ECCTA will come into UK law on 1 September 2025.
It sets out a corporate offence: if your organisation is found to lack “reasonable” fraud prevention controls when an employee commits fraud, you face potential uncapped fines.
This isn’t just a technicality or a tick box exercise. Government guidance puts robust pre‑employment screening and regular re‑checks for high-risk roles at the very top of its recommended fraud defence toolkit.
If you’re in the HR or compliance seat, this is your “airbag”. Employment vetting and screening is literally the first line of defence.
Four screening pillars for strong defence
Here’s how a best‑practice screening programme now needs to look:
- Identity and right‑to‑work (RTW) checks: Make sure you know exactly who’s working for you, and that they’re allowed to work in the UK. Digital identity tools like Zinc add an extra layer of security to avoid tampering or impersonation.
- Credential verification: You need to trust your new hire’s credentials. Whether it’s employment history, academic, or professional qualifications, the right background checking provider can help. Plus, Zinc uses instant HMRC employment verification alongside traditional reference checks to mitigate fraud and speed up the process.
- Honesty, integrity and reputation checks: Criminal records checks, adverse media checks, social media screening, and critically Cifas Insider Threat Database (ITD) checks (for Cifas members only) can catch hidden or unsanctioned fraud histories.
- Conflict of interest screening: With 60% of UK workers now having secondary income streams, it’s no longer just senior leaders who are likely to be company directors or sole traders. Directorship checks, bar decisions, and financial integrity flags should happen for any position or situation that could compromise an employee’s judgement or loyalty.
It’s not just one-and-done, either, or just for current employees. Continuous monitoring is just as important. ECCTA extends liability to associated persons, including contractors and temporary agency staff and highlights annual re-checks on people working in high-risk roles as being essential.
Take action now: Four questions
Wondering if your process is up to scratch? Ask yourself these questions:
- Has our employment screening policy been updated recently to account for changes in legislation?
- Does the policy address risks emerging from remote and hybrid work?
- Does the policy cover each of the four pillars of background checking mentioned above?
- Have we built in re-checks for employees in high-risk functions?
If you can’t confidently answer “yes” to each of those, it really is time to act.
How Zinc helps you stay legislation-ready
Need help translating the ECCTA’s demands into practical, policy-level action? Here’s how Zinc supports modern screening:
- Rapid and robust identity and RTW verification with government integration
- Unified referencing combining HMRC employment data with professional references - instant and uneditable
- Automated Cifas Insider Threat Database checks to mitigate internal fraud risks
- Purpose-built solutions for scheduled re‑checks and continuous monitoring
Background checks are often the forgotten middle child in the hiring process, but they’re also the best way to avoid hiring someone who opens the company up to legal liability.
Related: 7 myths about background checks
Final thoughts
- Fraud is skyrocketing, especially insider fraud where employees exploit system and process weaknesses for their own gain.
- The Worker Protection Act shows what legislation can achieve in tackling crime in the workplace.
- ECCTA’s FTPF provisions bring new legal risks, but also steer us towards better organisational resilience.
- Pre-employment screening, credential verification, multi-threaded background checking, and re‑checks are your frontline defence.
If your current policy was last updated before remote working became the norm, or if it doesn’t cover each of the four pillars above, it’s time to take control. The new rules aren’t just about avoiding penalties, they are a mandate to do better.
Ready to review your employment screening policy and prepare for ECCTA’s requirements?
Zinc’s expert team can walk you through the four pillars, help assess gaps, and show how to use verification tools and re-check frameworks that meet, or exceed, government expectations.
Let’s turn new legislation into better protection for your organisation. Book a demo today to talk to our team about building compliance into your checking process.
