Employment agency Actief Werkt!: “It’s great how DataChecker strengthens our ID verification!”
“Are you looking for work in the Netherlands?”, says Carin van den Bliek, Quality Manager at Actief Werkt!. “Then we will be happy to help you. At least, if we are certain that you are allowed to work here; if you have the right papers for it.” In order to check this, Actief Werkt! has been joining forces with DataChecker for fourteen years. She recently extended that working relationship until 2026. What does she like about the collaboration?
“Whether it is with customers and employees or suppliers: Actief Werkt! prefers long-term relationships,” says Carin. She is a good example of this herself. “I have been working at this employment agency for 27 years now, 19 of which as a quality manager. And some of my colleagues have been here for longer.” DataChecker is another example. “We have been working with them since 2009. If you deliver good results as a supplier, respond quickly and communicate with integrity, we value you and are loyal to you. So we do not simply switch to another company.”
Digital is faster
When Carin started at Actief Werkt!, the employment agency was still checking documents manually. “With blue light and a magnifying glass and such. We used that to tackle identification documents and work permits. We took that verification just as seriously then as we do now. We even had a WID team. In it, we discussed what we were already doing well and what could be improved.” The manual verification was time-consuming, says Carin, but necessary. “Because these checks were already legally required then. And because there was no faster, digital method yet.”
As soon as digital verification became popular, Carin and her colleagues jumped on it. “We hoped not only to save time, but also to reduce our margin of error.” As quality manager, Carin was (and is) responsible for the digital verification of customer data. “I quickly decided to outsource this. Because you can’t expect the average intermediary to master the required technology down to the last detail, to keep up with changes in legislation and regulations, and to adjust verification methods accordingly. You simply need an external expert for that.”
Stay involved yourself
“DataChecker is now that external expert,” says Carin. “It is great that we can place the digital verification of customer data with a company that knows what it is doing and is familiar with our industry.” Which, she emphasizes, does not mean that Actief Werkt! no longer carries out its own checks. “On the contrary: DataChecker’s digital verification is not a replacement for the verification by our intermediaries. It is a good addition to it. No matter how satisfied we are with DataChecker, we continue to train our intermediaries to also look at documents themselves.”
According to Carin, this continued involvement in verification is characteristic of Actief Werkt!. “You also see the same involvement in our need to be kept informed. For example, we want to know how relevant laws and regulations change. And how DataChecker adjusts or renews verifications. DataChecker certainly has customers who do not have this need. And perhaps thinks that it should not bother organizations with this kind of information; that it can better arrange things in the background. But we like to hear about it – even more than is already the case.”
Always short lines
“We recently passed on that request,” says Carin. “And I have every confidence that it will be well received. DataChecker is open to feedback, both ad hoc and during evaluation moments.” She finds that an important part of communication, which she also calls “good” in other respects. “For example, I have short lines of communication with permanent contact persons – one for technical questions, another for other matters. And if intermediaries in our branches have a technical question, for example why an ID has been rejected, they can immediately contact DataChecker’s support desk.”
Good communication is an essential plus point of the collaboration for Carin. Just like the fact that DataChecker checks documents carefully but quickly. “As soon as they receive a photo of an ID card, for example, the check usually only takes ten minutes. Then we receive a link. If we click on it, the check result ends up directly in the right place in our CRM system. Very handy!” In general, DataChecker approves about 90 percent of the documents. “The rest is not necessarily a forgery. It could also be that an ID card has expired, for example. Or accidentally photographed incorrectly.”
Securely by email
Carin likes how DataChecker is constantly thinking along. “During the corona crisis, for example, we could no longer physically receive candidates – something we always strive for. Our intermediaries could therefore no longer take a photo of documents themselves and send that photo to DataChecker.” The verification expert came up with a solution. “Our candidates received a special e-mail. In it, they not only found an explanation of how to photograph their documents themselves, but also a ‘Secure ID Link‘. Through this link they could send the photos safely to DataChecker. Their privacy was guaranteed in this way.”
Usually, the ID checks are fully automated. The focus is then on the ‘Machine Readable Zone‘ of the document. “But every now and then there is a ‘ID Verification Plus‘ necessary”, says Carin. “Especially with ID cards from outside the EU. Then an expert from DataChecker also takes a look. He verifies on the basis of, among other things, the passport photo, the font and the front and back whether someone with the ID card is allowed to work in the Netherlands. Sometimes, for example, it is written by hand that the owner is free to work here. The expert then checks whether this notification is legally valid.”
Made a good choice
“In this way, DataChecker also helps us to only send out people with the right documentation,” says Carin. “And we are very satisfied with this too.” Of course, she knows that there are other parties to verify data. “And we keep an eye on them. But I have never seen anything from these competitors of DataChecker that made me think: ‘This is what they offer and we don’t get’. On the contrary. We still fully support the choice to hire DataChecker. It is not without reason that we extended our collaboration for three years!”
