The Hidden Risks of Employment Fraud: A Guide for Employers
With cases of employment fraud on the rise it has reinforced the importance of robust and rigorous pre-employment screening. This blog post aims to highlight the areas where employment fraud has been discovered, and to support recruiters with methods of how to mitigate the risk of employing the wrong candidates.
What is Employment Fraud?
Employment fraud is the falsification of qualifications, fabrication of prior work experience and the non-disclosure of information such as criminal activities. For certain industries, in particular the health or financial sector, the falsification of qualifications could result in catastrophic consequences.
Recent Trends in Employment Fraud
- Advances in Technology: with the advancement of digital technology fraudsters have access to fake digital certificates and doctored employment records, which is making it harder for employers to verify via traditional methods.
- Online Platforms: with remote hiring becoming more common there has been an increase in fraudsters falsifying information on platforms such as LinkedIn, where they will alter their profile to portray that they have more work experience, or qualifications.
- Job Market Fluctuations: with fluctuations in the job market there has been a spike in employment fraud due to individuals becoming more desperate to secure positions, this has resulted in dishonest tactics to get ahead of the competition.
Ways to Mitigate Employment Fraud
- Stringent Screening Processes: execute thorough screening measures that are relevant to the job role. Review your candidate's job role and choose background checks that could cause areas of concern.
- Advanced Technologies: make use of the latest technology like digital ID verification to verify your candidate’s documents to ensure they are authentic. Methods like this reduce the risk of verifying fraudulent documents.
- Internal HR Training: make your hiring managers and HR teams aware of the risks of employment fraud, and provide them with the relevant training and make them aware of the red flags to look out for when conducting the onboarding process.
- Reputable Providers: Use a reputable screening provider to process your pre-employment background checks so that you have peace of mind that you are thoroughly checking your candidates. Additionally, by going through a reputable screening provider you ensure that all checks are legal and compliant.
In Summary
As technology improves and fraudsters find new ways of falsifying their information, it becomes even more important that we remain vigilant to these issues. By implementing effective screening procedures as part of the onboarding process you can be confident that you have all the preventative measures in place to ensure that you have only have a trustworthy and competent workforce within your organisation.
