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IFSEC Conference (3)

by msecadm4921

Employee screening was a topic for the IFSEC conference on Tuesday morning.

Employee mills were aired by Nick Harness, a founding member of the business screening body PREFIT. That is, someone has a whole CV fabricated (at a price), with a business behind it; so if you ring to check the candidate, someone will answer the phone and provide the reference. “This has just started to come through,” Nick Harness said, “and it’s something that is causing quite a lot of concern in the States.” Already known are ‘diploma mills’ where for a fee you get a paper qualification.

He described the ‘diverse’ landscape. Besides security clearance required for sensitive government work, the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) check for those working with children or vulnerable adults; the Financial Services Authority (FSA) to combat mis-selling; under Surbanes-Oxley, you have to check key accounting and finance staff if you operate in the US; and all companies have to beware of illegal immigrants seeking work, because of fines under the Immigration Asylum and Nationality Act 2006. While restaurants are typically fined for employing illegals, the authorities are looking for big scalps; and large companies pay more in fines to avoid publicity, he hinted. The seventh data protection principle – that data must be kept securely – also applies. Can you provide data to others so they can screen your former staff? So PREFIT is often asked, as corporates are scared of being taken to court. Similarly, employers use the Data Protection Act as an excuse not to screen staff. You can give a reference about someone if it is factual and true; but beware of data transfer across continents that may have different laws, Nick Harness said. Do beware, though, of using social networking websites for background checks; he likened that to reading graffiti – hearsay – on toilet walls.

All that said, as he admitted, you probably cannot do a useful CRB check on a Russian, nor if he has been in the country only for six months. The future may see more checks on identity, because as he put it, if you are not sure of a person’s identity, there is no point checking their financial probity, or criminal background. He suggested also more ongoing checks on staff, such as for key staff in a financially sensitive role. You might monitor the financial status of someone for peaks, and troughs, in case of internal fraud. If a manager suddenly goes from the financial negative to £50,000 to the good, you might want to investigate. And as for staff driving a company vehicle, if someone is uninsured or has lost their licence, and then injures someone while driving for business, the directors are liable besides the driver, Nick Harness warned. Similarly, checks on professionals such as solicitors who may be debarred from work but move elsewhere to start anew. Nick Harness also suggested risk-based reviews, to see if staff or their posts are more or less at risk since the review before. Regulations coming in will require recruitment agencies to confirm the identity of work-seekers and that they are trained and authorised to do the job sought.

What’s best practice? “Prevention is better than cure,” he advised. Take a risk-based approach, and communicate your policies. Put in your job adverts that you are going to do background checks through a third party. This may lead to 10 to 15 per cent fewer people applying for that job, he suggested. Apply similar levels of checks to internal and external hires; be consistent with contractors and temps, he stressed. Sharing information between companies can be lawful, such as fraud registers and providing proper registers. He praised whistle-blowing as minimising the potential for fraud or other internal problems. What checks are done against Daisy, the office cleaner for years, who lifts the chief executive’s papers on his desk to dust but never reads them … do you know you can trust her? In retail, in particular, staff sacked for fraud go from one retailer to the next, like a merry-go-round.

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