How do Civil Service Employment Checks Work?

Spender£

Me and a colleague at work have applying for other jobs in case the company we work for goes out in the current recession.
We both applied for the same civil service role but he was told they would not continue his application after an employment check and they are just starting my employment check apparently.
Does anybody know how far back these checks go because they say they use HMRC etc for the checks but i have a patchy employment history at best so expecting the same result as my friend.

Brie

No idea of what the CS might actually be checking but in finance they are normally going for 5 years (particularly for the youngsters) of uninterrupted proof of something.  Something can be employment but can also be collecting benefits - just as long as there are no unexplained gaps of more than 6 weeks.  Older employees would need a 10 year record.

Marcon

Spender£ said:

Me and a colleague at work have applying for other jobs in case the company we work for goes out in the current recession.
We both applied for the same civil service role but he was told they would not continue his application after an employment check and they are just starting my employment check apparently.
Does anybody know how far back these checks go because they say they use HMRC etc for the checks but i have a patchy employment history at best so expecting the same result as my friend.

Don't despair just yet. A patchy employment history, provided it is honestly declared on any application, isn't enough to rule you out for consideration. Much will depend on the type of role and how 'checkable' your work history/ other activities are. Your colleague might have been ruled out for reasons they aren't going to tell you - e.g. a criminal conviction or similar - or discontinued their own application if asked for information they prefer not to give.

There's a good outline here for MoJ applicants: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/637755/Guidance_for_Pre-Employment_Screening_v1_2.pdf