From early next week you'll be able to review references at the individual reference level

Until now, any notes on a candidate report were recorded at the report level. You'll soon be able to add notes, attach documents, and mark each individual reference as reviewed, directly on the reference card.

What's new
Mark a reference as reviewed
Once you've examined a reference and are satisfied with it, mark it as reviewed. A green Reviewed badge appears on the collapsed card so your team can see it without opening the card. A note explaining what you've confirmed is required, for example, that you've verified the referee's identity or reviewed safeguarding content.

Withdraw a review if needed
If a reference needs re-examining, you can withdraw the reviewed status. A reason is required, and the original review record is always preserved. If you withdraw a review that a colleague originally set, they'll receive an email notification.

Add notes to a reference
Record anything relevant to a specific reference — an offline conversation with the referee, safeguarding notes, additional context. Notes are timestamped with your name and can't be edited or deleted after saving, which keeps your audit record intact.

Attach documents
Upload supporting evidence alongside a note: scanned reference letters, external documents, anything gathered outside Zinc. Accepted formats: JPEG, PNG, PDF. Maximum file size: 5MB.

Everything appears in your PDF
All notes, document attachments, review actions, and timeline events are included automatically when you download the report.

What you need to know

• Notes and review records can't be edited or deleted after saving. This is by design — it keeps your audit record reliable for compliance purposes.
• Marking a reference as reviewed has no effect on the check status (Clear, Consider, etc.) or the overall report status. It's a record that your team has examined it — separate from Zinc's automated outcome.
• A note is required when marking a reference as reviewed or withdrawing a review.
• If a colleague withdraws a review you originally set, you'll receive an email notification.

We'll be in touch once it's live. In the meantime, if you have any questions, get in touch with your account manager or reach out to our support team.

Welcome to our monthly product update!

With some big releases just around the corner, we have been a bit light on product updates recently. Having said that, there are still some super exciting changes that you might have missed!

Professional qualification form improvements

We've made the professional qualification form clearer for candidates. They now select their qualification type first and the form adapts to show the right fields. Membership or licence numbers (such as an NMC PIN) are now required fields, reducing errors and improving data quality.

Partner API: manual DBS identity verification 

Recruiters can now complete manual DBS identity verification directly from supported ATS and HRIS platforms. When a DBS check requires in-person identity verification, integrated systems can receive the notification and mark the step as complete through the Partner API — eliminating the need to switch platforms.
This helps teams keep background checks moving within their existing workflow, reducing context switching and saving time.
If you'd like to use this functionality, speak to your ATS or HRIS provider about supporting the latest Zinc Partner API capabilities.

Other improvements we made in May

• We've upgraded our UK address finder to a new provider with 33 million address records — up from 8 million. Candidates should find it easier to locate their address, and we expect to see fewer DBS rejections from invalid entries.
• Workday HRIS customers can now configure their integration to route check requests to candidates' work email rather than their personal email — useful where company policy restricts personal inbox access at work.
• We've added clearer guidance to the selfie capture step so candidates better understand what's being photographed.

Zinc Product Team

Welcome to our monthly product update.

Here’s a quick recap of what we delivered for you last month 🙌

Changes to identity verification for DBS checks

We've updated the identity verification process for DBS checks to stay aligned with the latest version of the Digital Identity and Attributes Trust Framework. Here are the new requirements: 

Basic DBS: All UK or Irish nationals will now require a passport. Non-UK or Irish passport holders will require a passport plus one additional photo ID (e.g. driving licence, national ID card, or residence permit).

Standard & Enhanced DBS: Candidates will require a passport plus one additional photo ID (e.g. driving licence, national ID card, or residence permit).

Please note, not all passports are accepted, they typically need to be a modern biometric passport (strength 4). See our IDSP's document strength rating system. Any required secondary documents need to be a minimum of strength 3. 

We appreciate this change in process means we have had an increase in the number of manual reviews required. We are working hard to release improvements and we'll be expanding out the accepted document pathways throughout the year.

Changes since release

- Document strength failures → now trigger immediate manual review, with no resubmission.

- ID failure reasons in emails → failure reasons are now displayed in emails, for example: no consent given, document data missing, duplicate document used, or passport not provided.

Coming soon

- ID failure reasons on reports → failure reasons will also be displayed directly on reports.

- Displaying documents when ID fails → document copies will soon be visible when ID checks fail.

- Manual review document selection → reviewers will be able to specify which documents they reviewed.

Academic references and structured non-employment periods on references

Zinc will now guide candidates to explain any gaps in their timeline while completing their reference check. Candidates can choose from structured options including education, seeking work, travelling, or other.

If a candidate was in education during the required period, we’ll automatically request an academic reference.

Find out more about non employment references here.

Improvements to the Partner API statuses

Partners often saw many different scenarios in Zinc summarised under a single “pending” status in the Partner API. The partner API did not yet reflect the more granular statuses shown in app such as "awaiting candidate".  This made it difficult for recruiters to know whether to chase the candidate, wait on Zinc, or take action themselves.

This has now been fixed and new statuses are available to map to. Webhook events will now always fire on these important transitions, meaning updates can't be missed.

See the updated docs here.

Other improvements in April

Reference chaser notifications

Previously, we only showed the number of times a referee was contacted via icons or badges on the candidate report, and up to three contact attempts on the PDF report.

We’ve now updated reports to show all contact attempts in hover content and display the full contact history in the PDF report

CV requirement indicator for CV checks

We've improved the Partner API to make it clearer when a CV upload is required. Previously, partners could not determine via the API whether a package included a CV check, which could lead to missing information and delays.

Zinc Product Team 🌸

Planned Maintenance Notice – Temporary Service Disruption

We’d like to inform you of a scheduled maintenance window that will temporarily affect some of our checks.

On 26 April, between 09:00 and 17:00 Central European Time (CET), international criminal, education, credit and directorship checks will be unavailable due to essential system maintenance. All England & Wales checks will remain operational.

During this time:

• You will still be able to request checks as normal.
• Candidates will not be able to submit their information for these checks.

All other services will continue to operate as normal, and full functionality will resume immediately after the maintenance window.

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and appreciate your understanding as we carry out improvements to maintain the quality and reliability of our platform.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reply to this email.

Warm regards,

Zinc Product Team

We've updated the identity verification process for Basic DBS checks to stay in line with the latest version of the Digital Identity and Attributes Trust Framework.

Basic DBS checks

The documents candidates can use to verify their identity for basic DBS checks have been updated.

UK passport holders: candidates with a valid UK passport can use this on it's own to prove their identity. 

Non-UK passport holders: candidates will need their passport combined with a driving licence or national identity card.

Not all national identity cards are supported and the verification process will guide candidates through which documents they can use.

For more information on these changes please refer to this article.

What this means for your team

If a candidate can't provide the required documents digitally, you'll be asked to complete a manual identity check before the DBS submission can go ahead. We anticipate that more candidates will now require a manual review due to the stricter document requirements for DBS checks. If you have any uncertainty on how to manage this process this article can help you learn more about manual identity checks.

We've updated the identity verification process for DBS checks to stay in line with the latest version of the Digital Identity and Attributes Trust Framework.

The documents candidates can use to verify their identity for standard & enhanced DBS checks have been updated and a valid passport must now be provided for all DBS checks.

Standard & Enhanced DBS checks:

UK passport holders: candidates will need to provide a valid passport combined with a driving licence.

Non-UK passport holders: candidates will need to provide a valid passport combined with a driving licence or national identity card.

Basic DBS checks:

UK passport holders: candidates with a valid UK passport can use this on it's own to prove their identity. 

Non-UK passport holders: candidates will need their passport combined with a driving licence or national identity card.

Not all national identity cards are supported and the verification process will guide candidates through which documents they can use.

For more information on these changes please refer to this article.

What this means for your team

If a candidate can't provide the required documents digitally, you'll be asked to complete a manual identity check before the DBS submission can go ahead. We anticipate that more candidates will now require a manual review due to the stricter document requirements for DBS checks. If you have any uncertainty on how to manage this process this article can help you learn more about manual identity checks.

Last week, we shared  that this was on the way. Now it’s live.

Zinc now gives candidates clearer guidance through gaps in their timeline, so you get a fuller, more consistent view of their history upfront.

What's new

• Structured gap categories: Candidates can now explain gaps by selecting from education, seeking work, travelling, or other.
• Academic references for time in education: If a candidate was in education during the required period, we’ll automatically ask them to provide an academic reference. Referees will be asked to complete a academic reference.
• More context for other gaps: candidates are required to add a short explanation and have the option to upload supporting documents.
• Character references applied automatically
  If character references are included in your package, candidates will also be asked to provide a non-employment period. If you previously enabled “accept character references” for regulatory references, this will now apply automatically.

Why it matters

You’ll get a clearer picture of a candidate’s timeline up front, which can help reduce follow-up and make decisions faster.

Read more about it here and please do not hesitate to reach out with questions or feedback.

Planned Maintenance Notice – Temporary Service Disruption

We’d like to inform you of a scheduled maintenance window that will temporarily affect some of our checks.

On 5th April, between 09:00 and 17:00 Central European Time (CET), international criminal, education, and directorship checks will be unavailable due to essential system maintenance. All England & Wales checks will remain operational.

During this time:

• You will still be able to request checks as normal.
• Candidates will not be able to submit their information for these checks.

All other services will continue to operate as normal, and full functionality will resume immediately after the maintenance window.

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and appreciate your understanding as we carry out improvements to maintain the quality and reliability of our platform.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reply to this email.

Warm regards,

Zinc Product Team

Welcome to the March edition of our monthly product updates!

We hope you're getting ready for your Easter break. Just before you go, here’s a quick recap of what we worked hard to deliver last month 🙌

Customisable Digital Self Certification Forms

Self-certification forms are now fully customisable. Collect the information you need during pre-employment, including SM&CR details, Fitness and Propriety, or any other information you need to make onboarding smoother for candidates.

Learn more about customisable self-certifications here.

Coming up: Academic references and structured non-employment periods

Zinc will now guide candidates to explain any gaps in their timeline as they complete their reference check. They’ll choose from structured options: education, seeking work, travelling, or other.

If a candidate was in education during the required period, we'll ask them to submit an academic reference automatically.

Find out more about the upcoming release here.

Other improvements we made in March

• Following the release of free quarterly Update Service re-checks, we have made it easy to enrol existing employees in the automatic quarterly recheck cycle.
• Run credit checks for candidates based in the United States. This check uses data from Equifax and must be enabled by your Zinc account manager.
• We’ve made it easier for candidates to enter their country of employment and citizenship details. Clearer guidance reduces mistakes and helps prevent delays, keeping the journey quick and seamless.
• Set reference requirements by duration and quantity, not just one or the other. This gives you more control over what you need from candidates and cuts down on time spent going back and forth to collect your true requirements.
• CV Checks are now available through our SmartRecruiters integration.
• Our HRIS partners can now use the new GET /partner/v2/search endpoint enabling them to search candidates (by email or request ID) and retrieve complete background check results in a single call, without needing to trigger or manage checks.

Zinc Product Team 🌸

This is a pre-release notification that from Wednesday 8th of April, you’ll have a clearer way to understand candidate history through references, without extra follow-ups. Find detailed information about this release here. 

What you need to know

Zinc will now guide candidates to explain any gaps in their timeline as they complete their reference check.

They’ll choose from structured options: education, seeking work, travelling, or other.

If a candidate was in education during the required period, we'll ask them to submit an academic reference automatically.

You can view the questions they’ll be asked.

What’s new

Clearer gap explanations from candidates
Candidates will now select a category for any gaps in their timeline, making it easier to understand their history without chasing additional details.

Academic references, built for education periods
If a candidate was studying, they’ll submit a tailored academic reference instead of trying to fit this into an employment reference,  improving completion and relevance.

More context, where you need it
For other gaps, candidates can:

• Add a short explanation, and
• Upload supporting documents (optional)

If enabled in your package, candidates may also be asked to provide a character reference for these periods. If you previously enabled ‘accept character references’ for regulatory references, this will now be applied automatically.

The Impact

Providing you a clearer candidate story upfront means you have fewer follow-ups, but more intel to make faster decisions.

Please don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or feedback, have a lovely day!