Employee background checks in Nigeria: what to check and in what order

1What an employee background check actually covers

In Nigeria the phrase covers four separate questions, and they are worth keeping apart because they cost different amounts and take different lengths of time:

• Is this person who they say they are? Their name and date of birth checked against the government identity record behind the number they gave.
• Do they live where they say they live? Confirmed by someone standing at the address, not by a phone call.
• Will anyone stand behind them? Guarantors who can be reached again months later.
• Did they really work where they claim? The former workplace confirming the role and the dates.

Everything else people ask for - a CV, a photocopied slip, a referee's phone number written by the candidate - is a claim, not a check. A claim is a fine starting point. It is not evidence.

2The order to run them in

Run the cheap, fast, decisive checks first. That way a problem surfaces before you spend more.

1. Identity. Settles fastest. If the name on the government record does not match the name on the application, nothing after it means much.
2. Guarantors. A guarantor who will not answer the form is itself information.
3. Previous employer. Slower, because it depends on a busy human replying.
4. Physical address. Slowest and most expensive, because someone has to travel there. Worth it for anyone who will hold keys, cash, stock or your children.

On Hirably, identity, guarantors and previous employer normally settle within 36 hours of the worker agreeing. A physical address visit takes 7 to 10 days. The checks run in parallel and you see each one land as it settles, so you are not waiting on the slowest to learn the fastest.

3Get consent first, and keep the proof

You need the candidate's agreement before you check anything about them, and you should be able to show that agreement later. Not a sentence in a contract they never read: a specific yes to the specific checks you are about to run.

The practical version: tell them who is asking, list the checks, and keep a time-stamped record of their agreement. Hirably sends the worker two messages on WhatsApp, with text message as a fallback - the first says who is asking, the second lists the checks and carries their private link. One agreement covers that request, and the record of it sits on the case permanently. Our consent statement spells out what the worker is told.

Consent also protects you commercially. A candidate who agreed in writing cannot credibly claim later that you went digging behind their back.

4How to read the result

A check answers a narrow question. It does not tell you whether to hire someone, and you should be suspicious of anything that claims to. What you get from us is factual: confirmed, not confirmed, declined, or no response, with the detail behind it.

Three results people misread:

• Not confirmed is not the same as dishonest. A misspelled name or a wrong digit produces the same outcome as an invented identity. Ask before concluding.
• No response from a referee is not a bad reference. Nigerian employers are often simply unreachable, or unwilling to put anything in writing.
• A confirmed check is a snapshot. It was true on the day it was checked. People move.

5What it should cost, and what to do when one part fails

Price the checks you need for the role rather than buying everything by default. A cashier and a gateman carry different risks. Our pricing page lists what each package includes.

When one part comes back unconfirmed, you should not be paying for the whole set again. The parts that already confirmed stay on the same case and the same report, and you pay only for the single part being redone, with the corrected detail. If the first attempt failed because of a typed error on our side or the provider was down, the repeat is free.

6Checking whether a previous employer filed anything

Separately from verification, an employer can look up whether a serious, police-reported incident has been filed against a worker by a previous employer. Filings require a police case reference, the worker is notified and given a window to respond, and their response travels with the record.

That register exists for grand theft, financial fraud, assault and criminal sabotage - not for performance disputes or a manager who did not get on with someone. Read more in the domestic staff guide, which covers the household version of the same problem.