Employee Rescreening After an Acquisition
This blog looks at at how a post-acquisition screening program could help to mitigate some of the employment risks that come with taking on another company’s workforce. For a more detailed view, download our eBook [here](https://www.hireright.com/resources/navigating-post-acquisition-background-screening).
In many industries such as energy, financial services, healthcare, retail, and technology, acquisitions are not uncommon. But while practical considerations such as the cultural integration of employees and potential conflict with new management are often major concerns following an acquisition, implementing a consistent background screening process across the company’s expanded workforce can be overlooked.
This blog looks at how a post-acquisition screening program could help you mitigate some of the employment risks that come with taking on the acquired company’s workforce and provides a list of questions to help you identify potential gaps in that company’s screening program that you may wish to address with employee rescreening. Finally, it concludes with some key practical considerations around the rollout of a post-acquisition employee rescreening program.
Why Conduct Post-Acquisition Employee Screening?
When a company acquires another business, there is often a strategic motivation—to expand into new territories, broaden product portfolios, or gain access to key infrastructure and operational capabilities. However, acquisitions inevitably involve a transfer of people and, with them, the inherent risks these individuals may bring to the acquiring organization.
HireRight’s 2025 Global Benchmark Report, which is based on a survey of more than 1,100 HR and risk professionals worldwide, reveals a troubling gap: while more than half of respondents said their company conducts some form or post-hire background screening or monitoring, a mere 8% said they would conduct employee rescreening after a merger or acquisition. This widespread oversight potentially exposes organizations to unnecessary and devastating risks.
The consequences of retaining hires without reverifying their backgrounds could be severe, especially if these individuals have access to confidential or highly sensitive data. A single data breach could trigger hefty regulatory fines and costly lawsuits for your company, significantly complicating what is likely already an intricate acquisition process. Given that even one rogue insider could pose a credible threat to your organizational data security and company reputation, thorough screening of incoming employees—who likely possess diverse and unknown backgrounds—isn't just advisable: it's often essential for protecting your investment and ensuring the success of your business combination.
Shaping Your Post-Acquisition Screening Program
Before establishing your company’s post-acquisition screening program, there are several key questions that may help you better understand the steps needed to bring your newly added workforce up to the same screening standards as your existing employees.
Has the acquired company’s workforce already been screened?
Hopefully the company you’ve acquired previously screened their workforce as part of their recruitment or onboarding process—but this isn’t always the case. For example, in many locations outside of the U.S., background screening is often lesser known and not as widely adopted as best practice. If the acquired business’ workers have never been screened before, you may consider treating your incoming workforce as net new employees and request the same checks that you would conduct for any other new hires joining your business—tailored to their job roles, of course.
How was their pre-employment screening conducted and who performed these services?
Different companies take different approaches to employment background screening. Some rely on a single provider offering a global, centralized solution (such as HireRight) while others prefer to use various local vendors, which could result in inconsistent levels of thoroughness and record-keeping. When multiple providers are involved, it can become significantly harder to determine what was checked, the standards that were applied, and whether that information is still accessible. By thoroughly evaluating both the scope and quality of the acquired company’s past screening program, you can uncover potential gaps that might otherwise go unnoticed.
Which checks were included in their screening program?
Screening programs are rarely a one-size-fits-all, particularly for larger organizations operating internationally. It’s important to map out the component checks of their screening packages used for their different positions, as these may differ from those your company deem necessary. Typically, the checks conducted may be dependent on a few factors including each position’s seniority and their perceived risk to the business (which could be influenced by any systems access they have, their department, or their job responsibilities).
What sources were used to verify the information?
If the acquired company’s workforce were previously screened by another provider, it is useful to understand the types of sources used for each check. Some providers may rely on candidate-provided documentation only and not check direct-at-source information for some checks. Depending on your company’s screening policy, you may want to redo certain pre-employment checks (e.g. education verifications) as part of your post-acquisition screening program to ensure your entire workforce has been checked to the same standards.
What were the scopes of any pre-hire checks undertaken?
It is also important to understand the scope of any checks previously conducted on your new workforce. It could appear, on the surface, that the acquired company’s workforce has been through the same checks as your current employees, but the depth of those checks could vary significantly for various reasons including the scope of specific services offered by their previous screening provider or employer preferences based on how risk-averse the business is.
Does the company screen its contingent workforce (e.g. contractors, interns, and other non-FTE roles)?
Whether a company screens their contingent workforce—and if they do, how that process takes place—will vary from business to business. HireRight’s 2025 Global Benchmark Report found that employers in EMEA and APAC are the most likely to screen their non-employee workers and the most common method used for these checks was via the organization’s background screening provider. Conversely, in North America, three-fifths (61%) of businesses that screen their contingent workforce said that these workers are screened by the vendor’s chosen background screening provider, not their own provider. This could create gaps or inconsistencies in how your extended workforce is screened, particularly if your company works with lots of different vendors and/or has a broad global footprint.
How To Run a Successful Post-Acquisition Screening Program
Acquisitions can be a time of uncertainty, especially if you are a smaller business that is being absorbed into a new entity. There may be concerns over redundancies and disrupted reporting lines, as well as the potentially complex task of integrating the two workforces.
The last thing that you want to do is make the employees of the acquired business feel unwelcome. However, ensuring that your entire workforce has been through a consistent background screening process can help alleviate potential concerns about your new colleagues.
Once you have been through the process of evaluating the previous screening practices of the acquired company and identified the gaps that you want to address with your post-acquisition screening program, next comes the practical part: conducting the checks.
But before you get started, here are four things to consider that could help make the process more straightforward:
How You Introduce/Frame Rescreening
Tailor the screening experience for your newly added workforce to be sensitive to the unique circumstances that have led to their rescreening. For example, your company’s CEO or HR leader (or another prominent member of your executive team) could send an email welcoming your new employees to your company, mentioning the rescreening program as part of the integration process of combining the two companies. Letting your employees know what information they will need to provide in advance, as well as why they are being asked for it, can help to remove some uncertainty around the process.
Addressing “Never Been Screened” Workers
Some individuals—particularly those with long tenure—may have never had a background check before and may know little about the process. These employees may naturally be a little apprehensive or could even be angry about being asked to undergo a background check in the first place— “Why am I being asked to prove myself when I’ve been doing this job for 20 years?!”
It can be helpful to explain candidly why your company is conducting background checks on the newly added workforce, the steps of the process, and what would happen if any inconsistencies or adverse findings surfaced during the checks. HireRight has a comprehensive FAQ section on our online Candidate Support hub to address common candidate (and employee) background screening queries. Additionally, some customers compile responses to the most common questions they are asked and share this with their candidates (or employees) before they start the screening process.
Focusing on the Employee Experience
By working with a background screening provider that offers a mobile-friendly background screening process, with easy document upload and support in multiple languages, you can help make the screening process as simple as possible for your new employees.
Some background screening providers, like HireRight, offer advanced customization options to make the screening process more personal to your company. This could include branding the candidate/employee screening platform with your logo, including a video from your company to introduce the process, or simply editing the text used throughout the screening process to reflect your company’s language and tone of voice (e.g. you may refer to your workforce as “team members” rather than “employees”). Additionally, if the acquired company uses an ATS (and that ATS can be integrated with your background screening provider), this could help to streamline the process by reducing the amount of data entry required by your new employees.
Customizing Checks and Reporting
By the time you are introducing your rescreening program to your newly added employees, you should have already determined which checks are needed for each position. However, due to the nature of post-acquisition screening, there are a few unique considerations. For example, if you are planning to reverify individuals’ employment histories, you may want to skip their current role with the acquired company.
Once your employees’ background checks have been completed, you may wish to utilize an adjudication tool that can help reduce the manual workload of personally reviewing each individual’s screening report (the findings of a person’s completed background checks) by flagging the screening reports that require additional review and assessment. This can be particularly helpful following an acquisition, as you might be simultaneously rescreening the acquired company’s entire workforce and not have the number of staff needed to review the results in a timely manner. HireRight’s Managed Adjudication service works to the specific criteria that your company provides and identifies reports that meet the company standards you provide and those that require individualized review.
Summary
Whilst some risks posed by any employee are unforeseen, it is up to businesses to take adequate precautions to avoid the risks that can be addressed. This is particularly true after acquisitions; applying a consistent employment screening program for new employees, whether they are transferred into your organization from an acquired company or hired directly, will help to reduce these unnecessary risks and support the successful joining of two companies.
For more information, you can read our Navigating Post-Acquisition Background Screening eBook. For a more general overview of employee rescreening, check out our Global Guide to Rescreening.
Release Date: February 9, 2026
HireRight
HireRight is a leading provider of on-demand employment background checks, drug and health screening, and electronic Form I-9 and E-Verify solutions that help employers automate, manage and control background screening and related programs.