CV and Employment Fraud!
In these times of economic uncertainty, it is even more important to be sure that your employees are who they say they are and that there is no fraud being committed against your company. Let's face it, no company can afford to be haemorrhaging money at this time.
It is important to start this process at the pre-employment process, by first making full checks on CV information. It was recently reported that 49% of CVs have errors on them. These can include major misrepresentations as well as the extra grade or two. It is therefore important to check the details supplied by your prospective employees. This can be done by your company but this is not always feasible so you may wish to outsource the process.
Beyond the risk of potential fraud there is also the potential impact on your existing work force's morale, as they have to fill the knowledge gap left by the new recruit's inability.
Although it is essential to seek legal advice when drawing up an employment contract I would add two points that are often overlooked. Firstly get the applicant to sign an authority allowing you to check into their suitability both pre and post employment and make it clear that employment is dependent on the integrity of the information supplied.
It is also a good idea to have a record of all employees appearance in the form of a photograph. I would also recommend updating this photograph every few years. A good way to do this is to have ID cards with a photograph attached. This would help any investigator should the worse happen and you need to investigate or trace your employee in the future.
A Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development Survey has discovered that 28% of CVs contain “very serious errors” which could mean anything from fabricated references to exaggerated qualifications or dishonest explanations such as time spent abroad when they were in fact in prison. Dependent on the job description it may be appropriate to carry out a Criminal Records Bureau check. These are generally carried out either by the applicant or by a private investigator via an umbrella body such as the Association of British Investigators.
As a minimum you should check that the applicant is who they say they are, and should include enquiries to confirm they are legally able to work in the UK and that the information supplied is correct. Be especially vigilant for vague dates and check the dates supplied. Confirm the times of previous employment to eliminate any gaps, which may indicate prison time, or other problem activities, such as a brief employment where the applicant was dismissed. Check references thoroughly and ideally speak to other people in the company, and where possible show the referee a photograph of the individual in question to make sure that the CV is that of the applicant.
Make sure the candidate signs a declaration that the CV is their own and a true and honest reflection of their working background.
If you are an information based company, it is advisable to have in place procedures and systems to how any information was taken if it is stolen. For example, if you were to find out a competitor has obtained a list of your clients and contacts you need to know which employer supplied that data to your competitor. Obviously it is better to be able to prevent the information leaving your company in the first place. Examples of things that can be done is to have logs of large print runs, log emails, place locks on USB ports etc. Seek the advice of an expert and make your employees aware that the data is protected.
A large amount of commercial fraud is carried out by employees or with an employees assistance. Be vigilant, look for employees acting in an unusual manner, such as a manager starting to close their office door when historically they did not, look for people living beyond their means, this may be a sign of fraud but also of large debts which may make someone more likely to commit acts of fraud or theft. Watch for people using their mobile phone more than usual.
There are various things that can be done if you suspect an employee.
Check company phone records for evidence that the employee is in regular contact with competitors, or to numbers you do not recognise as legitimate contacts.
There may be a case for fitting covert listening devices that can at least pick up one side of the subject's conversations. Be very careful if an agency suggests that they can fit telephone bugs as this is only possible with a court order which is very rarely given.
Surveillance either electronical or actual, may be a way forward to establish if your employee is carrying out activities which are detrimental to your company such as meeting competitors or setting up business in direct competition to you.
Another suggestion would be to keep a spare key of any company cars that you supply to your employees. It is not unheard of for people to gain employment with a company at all levels of the business and be given a company car to use, then take long term sickness leave but don't return the car. We have experience of the employee disconnecting the built in tracking system on a £50,000 car and then storing it in a locked garage. The employer had enough information to dismiss the individual but was afraid to do this as they were sure the car would never be recovered. We then attached our own tracker to the car whilst it was parked on the road outside the subject's house. The subject was given notice and as expected did not return the car and locked it in his garage when he was home. We were then able to locate the car in a public car park and arrange for it's collection with the spare key.
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