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Taking employee screening a step further

The need to protect resources is such that decision makers are compelled to not only pre-screen prospective employees, but continue to do so once a person is employed. Post-employment screening is emerging as a critical component of credentials verification in business.

Few businesses today would readily employ a person without conducting a series of checks on the details they are presented with. But ongoing threats to business and increasing levels of fraud mean that managers have to be even more vigilant about the credentials of employees.

Ina van der Merwe, CEO, Managed Integrity Evaluation (MIE), says there are a range of credentials verification services available in the market. These include ID verifications, qualifications verification and personal profile analysis, amongst others.

“The advent of social networks, mobile computing and wider access to information systems, coupled with increasing rates of cyber crime, has compelled organisations to be stricter with resources,” says van der Merwe.

According to Van der Merwe, one of the primary reasons for post-employment screening is that things change. Details that have been verified prior to someone’s employment may not necessarily remain the same. In many instances an individual’s basic information, such as a credit report, driver’s license status or any membership status, can change. These changes could have a direct influence on the employee’s position in the company.

Before post-employment screening can be initiated, an employee has to sign a consent form after which the employer can then apply checks on details that are relevant to the employee’s portfolio of responsibility. “For example employees who work with finances or who are in a position of trust would have to undergo credit checks, or those who have a claim to a promotion due to further studies would have their qualifications verified,” says van der Merwe.

If checks reveal that an employee has a string of bad debts and he or she is working directly within financials, as a result of this screening the employer is made aware of potential security threats and the company could possibly move the employee into an alternative position. While the practicalities and business sense behind post-employment screening are evident and awareness is growing, this form of screening is not yet prevalent within the local market.

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