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Polygraph vetting in the workplace

The assessment of prospective employees with respect to their integrity, reliability, possible substance abuse issues, criminal conduct and work ethic is important in ensuring the profitability and sustainability of any business. An employer has the right to know the person being considered for a position with the company – within the relevant privacy regulations – and many conduct pre-employment screening in order to determine the suitability of a prospective employee.

The benefits of effective pre-employment screening to the employer entail the following:

• Reduce the risk of appointing an unsuitable employee due to, for instance, past involvement in criminal activity, tendency to criminal behaviour, falsified educational credentials, etc.

• An expedient and effective appointment process.

• Improve appointment precision.

• Minimise incidence and cost of theft, losses, absenteeism or other conduct that may pose a threat to the company or business.

• Ensure that the employees that are appointed do have the necessary skills to perform the tasks associated with their job descriptions.

Effective pre-employment screening should cover the following:

• Criminal history verification.

• Previous employment/reference verification.

• Educational credential verification.

• Credit history verification.

Employee integrity assurance

Employee risk assessment is an ongoing process and should not only be conducted before employment. An employer also has the right to initiate appropriate action in circumstances that justify suspicion in respect of dishonest behaviour or conduct by an employee that is not in accordance with company policy or the law.

Regular vetting of personnel (regarding lie detection/truth verification) is an effective, expedient and cost-effective tool to ensure personnel integrity. Periodic vetting or testing of personnel serves as an early warning mechanism to timeously detect any involvement of personnel in criminal conduct or behaviour that may cause financial or other types of losses or damage to the employer.

Specific crime incidents

Polygraph examination in respect of specific crime incidents is also effective where an employee is suspected of being involved in an incident of crime (for instance theft, sabotage, poaching, etc) or conduct that caused a loss or harm to the company or business. The outcome of a polygraph examination assists the employer to take appropriate action in the matter that may include disciplinary action or opening a criminal case against the employee suspected of being involved in crime.

The employee’s rights

The employer cannot force any employee to submit to such a test. Refusal to do so does not indicate guilt and is also not necessarily grounds for dismissal. Preferably, the employer should obtain written consent. Secondly, the employer should agree with the polygraphists on the questions to be asked. They should not be vague, otherwise the employer will sit with answers that do not take the case any further.

Consent means informed consent. For that purpose the employee should be informed that the examinations are voluntary, the reasons for and type of questions should be explained, it should be explained that he/she has a right to have an interpreter and should he/she prefer, another person may be present during the examination provided that person does not interfere in any way with the proceedings.

Generally, employers are permitted to use the polygraph test to investigate specific incidents where employees had access to the property which is the subject of the investigation and there is reasonable suspicion that the employee was involved in the incident.

The employer must also been subjected to economic loss or injury to the employer’s business or the employer is involved in situations such as combating dishonesty in positions of trust, or combating serious alcohol, illegal drugs or narcotics abuse or fraudulent behaviour within the company, or deliberate falsification of documents and lies regarding the true identity of the people involved.

Polygraph results cannot be released to any person but only to an authorised person. Generally, it is the person specifically designated in writing by the employer requesting the examination.

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