Member Article

The employee screening trends that you should be aware of

A growing number of jobseekers are including false or inaccurate information on their CVs, which means that employers are often making hiring decisions without all the facts. While so-called CV lies are nothing new, the problem appears to be getting worse. A recent analysis of 5,500 CVs by The Risk Advisory Group’s employee screening experts found that 70 per cent contained inaccuracies, up from 63 per cent last year, and that 28 per cent included major discrepancies in educational qualifications or employment history.

Some discrepancies are undoubtedly genuine slip-ups or mistakes, but others are clearly attempts by jobseekers to deceive employers. For employers, the repercussions of making the wrong hire can be significant; it can cost time and money and, potentially, the reputation of the business. Alongside this, the rise of organised crime and insider fraud can result in an organisation being exposed to infiltration by rogue candidates, data hacking and security breaches if they don’t know who they are hiring.

A robust employee screening process can help companies uncover the truth behind the CV, to validate the credentials of prospective hires.

And the following developments are just some of the reasons why it is even more important than ever for companies to have a screening process in place.

Data privacy threats

Stories about lost or stolen personal data abound; it might be an employee stealing payroll information, or absconding with clients’ personal details.

Indeed, the ‘inside job’ is a growing scourge to business, according to the National Crime Agency. Organised criminal gangs are increasingly targeting vulnerable employees or infiltrating companies by posing as bona fide jobseekers.

This highlights how important it is for businesses to have an employee screening process that allows them to verify the background of everyone they employ, as well as having an infrastructure that manages employee and client data securely.

Legislative changes in banking and insurance

There are potential changes on the horizon for employers looking to take on new staff in the banking and insurance industry. The new Senior Managers Regime (SMR) and Certification Regime (CR) came into force on 7 March 2016, and The Risk Advisory Group continues to monitor to see how it will affect the pre-employment screening process.

In a recent consultation the regulator proposed a stricter system for screening prospective hires in the financial services industry.

The suggested tighter rules included extending the employment history referencing period from five to six years and the introduction of a standardised template to provide continuity in the referencing process.

Neither of these proposals was included in the regulator’s interim rules, and we await the final publication this summer.

A robust screening process means that employers are abreast of new regulations and are vetting new hires in line with them.

The challenge of hiring from outside the UK

The ability to carry out pre-employment screening checks can vary from one country to the next, depending on the local understanding of the process and availability of records.

Clients expect references to be provided on a corporate letterhead, or from a business email address. However, some organisations, particularly in developing countries, rely on consumer Yahoo or Google email accounts because they lack structured corporate IT systems.

Basic infrastructure problems such as faulty telephone lines and faxes, for example in some African universities, can also make obtaining a reference challenging.

In other instances, the obstacles might come from local legislation that limits a third party or employer from conducting credit and criminal checks, or from using this information as part of a pre-employment screening process.

For example, the use of criminal records information in the screening process is limited to certain industry specific roles and senior appointments in most European countries, due to data privacy regulations.

An effective screening process enables employers to take into account international variations such as these, while allowing them to vet potential employees with an adequate level of scrutiny.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Michael Whittington .