NAPBS forms European Group for screening

31 Jul 08

US Trade Association NAPBS (the National Association of Professional Background Screeners) is forming a European Group comprising a wide spectrum of members involved in the professional screening of pre-employment staff.

NAPBS was founded in 2003 in Morrisville, North Carolina to give the pre-employment screening industry the ability to effectively demonstrate its competence, reliability and willingness to adopt standards and promote Best Practice within the industry. In Europe, while Human Resources (HR) professionals have rapidly adopted pre-employment background screening, the absence of a Trade Association in this maturing market has meant that standards and Best Practice are not developed across all industries.

Adoption of a self-regulatory group

At a meeting of European background screening professionals held in London in June, it was agreed to form the European Group of the NAPBS Trade Association. Jonathan Grey, managing director of Northampton-based Nova Risk Management Limited, a company formed in February 1999 to provide candidate and employee security screening to British Standard 7858) commented: “I’m pleased to see the market maturing and the adoption of a self regulatory group with a wide spectrum of professional screening members. We owe a lot to the US where the NAPBS has established itself as the voice of the industry and is reaching out across the world to form a global screening alliance to expand its efforts.”

Robert Capwell, CEO of Employment Background Investigations and past-chairman of NAPBS USA, added: “Since its formation, NAPBS has grown to represent the majority of the screening firms based in the US and has established Best Practice and a united front to meet the highest expectations of clients and law-makers alike. HR professionals in Europe are big users of screening, so we welcome the formation of a UK body to unify the industry and offer the professional standards already enjoyed by HR professionals in the States”.

The NAPBS: all you need to know

Established as a non-profit Trade Association, the NAPBS was formed to promote ethical business practices, promote compliance and foster awareness of issues related to consumer protection and privacy rights within the background screening industry. As the voice of the industry, it represents over 650 companies related to the employment screening industry. The organisation believes it's vital that companies understand the importance of conducting proper background checks.