According to a recent supreme court ruling, CV fraud can now be prosecuted, with offenders ordered to pay back wages if it is proved they have falsified qualifications and experiences to an employer.
This comes as part of the high-profile appeal case of former NHS chief executive Jon Andrewes, who has been jailed after falsifying information that enabled him to work in this role. Andrewes lied about previous directorships, experiences, and his PhD, to get various jobs, including a position at a leading hospice.
You were performing responsible roles which you should not have been performing and inevitably that causes real damage to the public’s confidence in the organisations which you deceived.
– The sentencing judge.
Discrepancies spanning over 10 years in senior NHS positions mean that little to no due diligence was carried out when he was appointed into these roles.
Revelations such as these wholly confirm the need for background screening and experience verifications. These continuously save businesses time, money, and reputational risks.
This supreme court ruling is good news for employers, somewhat giving them protection should their employees’ experiences not be as stated. However, better protection can be given with pre-employment screening processes, which help you get to know who you are hiring before they come under your company’s umbrella.
During the recruitment process, your business needs to be confident in the candidates you hire. With our pre-employment screening process and background checks, you reduce your company’s exposure to risk. Accurate’s full employment screening helps employers make the right hiring decision, the first time.
Minimise Risk in the Hiring Process.
We offer many methods of ensuring who you’re hiring is who they say they are. The following are particularly helpful when it comes to experience verification:
- CV Comparison – we can compare the candidate’s employment screening questionnaire against the CV presented at the interview stage. By cross-referencing the candidate’s documents, we identify any anomalies or discrepancies.
- Employment History and Reference Checks – investigating a candidate’s pre-employment history in order to have confidence in their professional standing and to identify the reason for any gaps in employment or conduct issues.
- Education Verification – check to confirm the academic standing of the candidate (which may in some instances be relevant to the particular role) and to vouch for the accuracy of the information provided by the candidate.
- Professional Qualification and Membership Screening – confirm the current professional standing of the candidate, were relevant to the position of employment, and to vouch for the accuracy of the information provided regarding professional qualifications and memberships.
- Leaver Employment References – providing instant and time-efficient employment verifications for HR.
- ID Document Checks – ensure that the documents your candidate has presented as proof of identification are valid and UK right to work checks are completed.
With employees already working for your business, we recommend the following repeat screening procedures:
- Retrospective Employment Screening – aligning existing employees with company-wide employment screening policy.
- Top-up Employment Screening – delivering continued compliance for internally mobile personnel.
