For various reasons, Latvia’s workplace culture makes it a desirable place for individuals who want to live and work there. These include a competitive business environment, stable monetary policies, an attractive tax system, a skilled workforce, a strategic geographic location, and a well-established infrastructure. Additionally, conducting business in Latvia is easy due to its impressive 19th ranking in the 2020 Ease of Doing Business Index.
Companies seeking to hire globally can find an experienced workforce in Latvia. However, the process encounters challenges like maintaining compliance with local regulations. Hiring a reliable candidate for the job is vital to prevent complications.
Effective background checks are crucial in the hiring process. This is because these checks investigate that an individual is the same as the one registered during the hiring process. Moreover, these checks ensure you find the appropriate fit for the job.
It is imperative to understand Latvian laws related to background checks before hiring. Let’s go through the following detailed guide on performing employee background checks in Latvia.
What is Employment Background Verification?
The employment background verification process usually involves determining whether an applicant is qualified for a job position. It authenticates existing and potential employees’ professional and personal data.
Generally, companies perform background checks to hire the most appropriate candidate. Also, it helps prevent liabilities due to hiring inappropriate candidates. Both private companies and police departments conduct background checks.
The process of employee screening involves compliance with regulations. Hence, companies can either hire an in-house HR department or outsource the task to experienced third-party firms when hiring globally.
Employers authenticate several details while conducting a background check. These details are academic qualifications, work experience, social media, financial records, criminal records, credit history, and motor vehicle violations. Furthermore, employers also occasionally perform medical checks to determine a candidate’s physical fitness for a specific job.
Benefits of Background Checks in Latvia
In addition to ensuring an authentic hiring process, here are a few advantages of conducting background checks in Latvia.
Hire reliable candidates
- It is challenging to work with talent across the world without trust.
- Background checks guarantee that the candidates’ details are trustworthy.
- Conducting background checks also verifies that the employees are not withholding details about their job position.
- Hiring fraudulent individuals for a particular job position without conducting background checks can incur huge losses to employers.
- Performing employee screening beforehand ensures that employers will stay away from these vulnerabilities and hire reliable candidates only.
Improves job applicant quality
- Conducting pre-employment checks at the recruitment stage rejects candidates who intend to conceal serious issues.
- It motivates applicants to provide accurate resumes, decreasing discrepancies and misstatements.
- Candidates possessing a genuine background and certifiable qualifications will come forward.
- Screening out non-qualified applicants saves the company precious time.
- Hiring managers only need to interview quality candidates and those who are sincerely suitable for the job position.
Ensures workplace safety
- The workplace must be a safe environment for all employees.
- Whether hiring a new candidate or continuing with your current employees, conducting a background check will ensure that the employees follow compliance and safety standards.
- Certain job positions need employers to involve specific practices during the hiring procedure to ensure that they are suitable to accomplish job duties.
- Employers must ensure that employees hired for safety-sensitive positions or positions that need an employee to deal with company-confidential materials are trustworthy. Such industries include accounting, medical, transportation, engineering, education, etc.
Other key benefits
- Conducting employment background checks in Latvia helps your company to make informed decisions based on accurate results from foreign databases.
- Ensure the candidate’s employment history is right.
- Authorize the candidate to have the required experience and skills for the position.
- It assists in fraud investigations.
Are Background Checks Legal in Latvia?
Background checks in Latvia can be employed by existing and potential employees. However, there are regulations set for acquiring the information for these searches.
Employers aiming to conduct employee screening in Latvia should conform to the following:
- Working Environment Act (Section 13-4)
- Equality and Anti-Discrimination Act (Section 30)
- Personal Data Act
Employers should also ensure rigorous compliance with GDPR while dealing with personal data.
Things to Consider When Performing a Background Check in Latvia
Certain guidelines must be followed when conducting employee background screening in Latvia. The below section describes the aspects employers must consider while conducting background checks in Latvia.
Criminal record
- A criminal background check in Latvia is extremely restrictive.
- The background check helps the employer verify whether there exists any criminal record against the employer’s name or any unsettled warrants.
- The local level court conducts the criminal record search in Latvia depending on the provided jurisdiction of the city. Conducting background checks will report felony-level convictions in the last seven years.
- The corresponding report may contain case type, file location, file date, charge information, case number, sentencing information, and disposition information.
- An applicant’s criminal history impacts a company’s safety, job performance, and job qualification.
- If you are hiring applicants for the role of stock manager (the job demands a high level of trust), it’s imperative to check if the individual has been charged with fraud or theft in the past.
Social media check
- Employers should follow personal data regulations while checking a candidate’s social media profile during an HR background check in Latvia.
- Employers can legally review employees’ publicly-accessible information on social media if it is essential for the job position.
- The social media check ensures the employee will suit the organization’s work culture.
Credit report
- Certain limitations exist when employers can assess an individual’s financial data.
- Employers can request a credit report for certain positions only. For example, high-ranking vacancies with acute economic responsibility.
- Employers can only ask for a credit report in the last stages of the recruitment process.
- Credit background screening assists in authenticating the record of an individual’s credit-to-debt ratio.
Employment history
- Employers can verify a candidate’s past work experience.
- The employment history check involves verifying the applicant’s job title, employment date, and rehire eligibility.
- It is rare to verify the reason for termination or wage. But Latvian background check laws don’t forbid it.
Education history
- Employers can validate academic qualifications when conducting a company background check in Latvia.
- They can verify the applicant’s certificates and other accolades stated in the application.
- This check deters applicants who mention false educational accomplishments on their applications or resume.
Medical checks
- Employers can only collect information about a candidate’s health if it is pertinent to the job position while conducting a background check in Latvia.
- Employers can also ask candidates about certain illnesses if they make the candidate discordant with job duties.
Information Essential for a Background Check in Latvia
Employers should get a candidate’s consent before performing a background check. They need the following information for conducting a pre-employment background check in Latvia.
- Full name of the applicant
- Date of birth
- Full Address
- A scanned image of the applicant’s passport or national ID card.
- A scanned image of your passport or your national ID card
- A signed consent form.
- For academic qualification: school name, degree, major, location, date of attendance, degree copy, and release form.
- For employment history: employer name, date of employment, contact information, job position, and release form.
Process Involved in Background Checks in Latvia
A fixed prototype for employee screening in Latvia doesn’t exist. But, employers can follow the below process:
Step 1: Decide lawful checks to be used
- Certain limitations exist on the type of information that employers can access during background checks in Latvia.
- They can verify work experience, academic qualifications, and social media.
- They should verify whether they can check credit reports, medical reports, criminal records, education and degree verification, reference checks, motor vehicle reports, etc.
Step 2: Get candidates’ consent and collect information
- According to GDPR, employers should get candidates’ consent before collecting their personal data.
- Employers must inform the candidate in advance to access publicly-available information on social media. Subsequently, they can collect all the pertinent information for conducting employee screening in Latvia.
Step 3: Conduct a background check
- Employers can commence the background search after gathering the required documents.
- They should be aware of the conditions in which credit checks, criminal background checks, and medical check-ups are lawful.
- They must only access the required personal data.
- Companies must impose obligatory security protocols when processing personal data.
Industries and Situations That are Most Suitable for Background Checks in Latvia
Although background checks in Latvia are not an obligatory practice, they are advantageous to prevent liabilities and sustain integrity in the workplace.
Employers can conduct criminal background checks in Latvia if the protocols for the job position mention it. For instance, employers can access a candidate’s credit report for high-ranking job positions.
Employers can inquire candidates about certain illnesses or conduct medical checks if they are pertinent to the job. For instance, medical checks are essential for jobs involving heavy lifting.
Employers can verify work experience and academic qualifications for all candidates to determine their suitability for the job.
How Multiplier Helps With Background Checks
Employers should comply with Latvian background check laws for conducting employee screening. The corresponding processes are usually complex and time-consuming. So, employers can partner with third-party solution providers like Multiplier to eliminate these complications about employee background screening in Latvia.
Multiplier doesn’t directly handle background searches in Greece but has trusted partners for global employment and hiring abroad. Our PEO-EOR platform is an effective solution to streamline your payroll management and employee onboarding process.
Multiplier is experienced in onboarding, payroll services, and employee management in 150+ countries, including Latvia. It facilitates the compliant business expansion of startups and firms.