An essential element of any working environment is the employment of staff whose integrity and character is beyond doubt. This is particularly important when placing personnel into positions of trust.

Well-published research within the UK suggests that 25% of all employment applications contain misrepresentations or have omissions giving a detrimental effect to their application, eg previous roles, salaries, educational and professional qualifications etc. It has been estimated that 75% of these applicants would not have been employed if, at the time of their original application, they had been vetted and the discrepancies had been uncovered.

In February 2002, Ernst & Young completed a global survey on the extent of the risk and their findings were shocking. It was discovered that trusted long-established middle management being downsized, left companies exposed to potential dangers. With 30% of junior employees committing offences relating to fraud. They also estimated that £5 Billion is lost to internal fraud every year, with 85% of employees who commit the largest frauds being in their post less than one year.

A recent UK Audit Commission report indicated a 183% increase in computer misuse. This misuse and the amount of fraud are understated because many organisations do not report cases of such illicit activities due to unnecessary media publicity. More often they do not want to be shown as vulnerable to crime. The main asset for any business is its people.

Whilst they can be key drivers in your success, they can also be the reason for failure. Would you buy a car or house without first thoroughly checking its history and state of health? The case for carrying out employee screening becomes obvious. Why then do so many companies leave themselves open to the risk of employing dishonest staff?

There is only one benchmark for performing candidate and employee screening within the UK. The British Standard 7858: 2004, Security Screening of Individuals Employed in a Security Environment - Code of Practice, which supersedes the 1996 Code of Practice for Security Screening of Personnel Employed in a Security Environment. The scope of this revised British Standard "gives recommendations for the security screening of individuals to be employed in an environment where the security and safety of people, goods or property is a requirement of the employing organisation's operation and/or where such security screening is in the public interest." Many organisations outside the security industry use this robust British Standard to perform their candidate and employee screening process.

An increasingly competitive job market has given rise to heightened temptation for applicants to falsify their CVs. Most employers will accept the applicant's CV as true and use this as the foundation of their interview. These CVs should be ignored, as they often have an array of personalised designs and colours to impress the interviewer. They can hide a multitude of untruths. In order for the interviewer to ensure a level playing field for all applicants, and compliance with BS 7858, an application form should be requested. This however should not be taken at face value, but is the foundation upon which security screening can begin.

BS 7858 requires the applicant to provide the following information for verification:

			Personal information, ie National Insurance number, Date of Birth

			"Details of education, employment, periods of self-employment, unemployment and gaps in employment throughout the screening period." This must be a "period of not less than 10 years immediately prior to the commencement of employment"

			"The names of at least two persons from whom a character reference can be requested."

			"Details of all cautions or convictions for criminal offences, including motoring offences and pending action"

			"Details of all bankruptcy proceedings and outstanding court judgments for debt"

			"An acknowledgement that misrepresentation, or failure to disclose material facts, may constitute grounds for immediate dismissal and/or legal action"

			"Assistance in obtaining continuous record of evidence in writing confirming that there is nothing in their background which would reflect adversely upon their suitability for the proposed employment"

			Proof of Identity, ie EU driving licence with photographic identification, valid passport, with visa and work permit details, if applicable, or military service documents.

The Application Form makes it easier for the interviewer to scrutinise its content and puts the pressure on the applicant to be factual. Faced with an Application Form, some applicants will not take it further. However, many applicants do not complete the Application Form fully and often leave key information out, eg, an employer may given an adverse reference, not disclosing their visa restrictions etc, on the belief that it will go unnoticed.

At the beginning of an interview the interviewer will know little about a candidate apart from what is disclosed on the Application Form, therefore the recruitment decision risk is extremely high. The consistency of information provided by the applicant in their application tends to lead to a greater level of confidence and therefore a reduced risk.

Nova Risk Management Limited security screens annually 6,000 applicants to BS 7858 for 300 clients spread across a spectrum of industries. With this amount of security screening we are able to analyse our returns, which would support the published research. 35% of applicants fail their security screening, 15% leave within the 16-week screening period. When we analyse by each industry, ie security, brewing, facilities, insurance etc we only find a variance of a few percent.

The question that every employer should ask themselves: Is everyone who works for you who they say they are, qualified to the degree they imply, have good references, if not, can you as an employer afford to take the risk and ultimately the cost of failure/your reputation?

Good business practice demands that businesses have a duty to consumers, shareholders, employers and society as a whole to make effective recruitment decisions a high priority. Companies who build trust will win, those who do not will fail.

Jonathan R Grey, MD of Nova Risk Management Limited founded the company in February 1999 with the aim of providing a security screening service. Nova has been an NSI approved company since August 1999.

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