EmployeeScreenIQ Blog

We just published a guest article on EmployeeScreen University by Verifile Limited’s Eyal Ben Cohen about international employment background checks.  Check out this excerpt below.

International background screening is rising in prominence and is becoming ever more critical to businesses as borders open up and the battle to hire the best talent intensifies. This article provides an overview of international background screening and an insight into the importance of conducting thorough international employee checks correctly and legally.

So picture this scenario, Mark has been appointed to a new senior role and his employer wants to check his background. He has had an international education and career path which has enabled him to work abroad. He studied in Switzerland and Germany and enjoyed a successful career in Australia, Malaysia and the UK before moving to the US. This will not be a completely unusual scenario to many readers. But how can we effectively check Mark’s credentials to ensure he has been honest and truthful in his application for the role?

Evidently we are going to have to screen Mark in each of those countries mentioned, but how should we do this? Many screening companies are experts on the rules and regulations of their own countries, but many do not know to what extent regulations or background checks differ abroad. Before starting any checks we need to have a clear understanding of the local laws and cultures in each country. For example, in the US criminal records are obtained from county and Federal courts, but it is impractical to conduct a national check by going to every court in the US. But this does not mean that the rest of the world uses the same process. On the other hand in the UK, national checks are possible through official government bodies set up for this purpose, and indeed by law it is illegal to obtain criminal records in any other way, for example by trying to copy the US approach by going to a local court.

When faced with an international check, there are six key areas to consider:

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I am not a fan of reality television, I don’t watch a single one of them.  I wish I knew about The Apprentice on the BBC in the UK, I understand it has sparked a nationwide debate on CV lies.  I wrote about this last week without understanding the true impact, this guy flat out lied on national television. This story will now be included in my future presentations. Lee McQueen will now be mentioned with the same vigor as George O’leary, Marilee Jones and Robert Irvine! Its nice to see the importance of doing background checks get some international attention.

Michelle Rodger: Liar beware: porkies on your CV will come back to haunt you

By Michelle Rodger

I UNDERSTAND Sir Alan Sugar is already looking for new victims (sorry, contestants) for next year’s Apprentice. The recruitment advert on the BBC Apprentice website makes for interesting reading: “As usual he will be looking for someone ‘drop dead shrewd’ – someone with some business experience and obvious real potential, a leader with a wide range of skills, who is creative, sparky and bright.”

Sounds about right, doesn’t it? But wait a minute, there’s something missing, what could it be? Spelling ability? No, that isn’t important for an Apprenticeship. Oh, that’s it, there’s no mention of skills in CV-manipulation. Nor an ability to turn four months into two years.

Step up Lee McQueen, Apprentice contestant, time traveller and alleged university graduate. Tut tut tut. What a naughty boy.

I have to be honest, Lee wouldn’t have got past the very first stage in my company recruitment process. Did you see the spelling and grammar on his CV (“tommorrow”, “ambtion” and “recoinged” just for starters)? Interview him? I think not. Appalling. But worse, much worse, was his dishonesty.

Lying on his CV about the dates he attended university was bad enough, but when caught out by Sir Alan’s Viglen chief executive Bordan Tkachuk, he blatantly lied again and failed to apologise when backed so far into a corner his backside must have been positively triangular.

Surely BBC researchers would have checked the facts when Lee applied to take part? Or did they already know and allow him through, knowing it would all come tumbling out in the end to make for great Wednesday night viewing?

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As the concept of checking one’s employees becomes more common in European nations these statistics will change.  I would be interested in seeing discrepancy ratios and criminal record ratios to compare them to U.S. Screening companies.

Recruitment: Check to identify dishonest applicants

Many employers are still uncovering discrepancies, inaccuracies and lies in candidates’ job applications, according to Personnel Today’s sister publication Employment Review.

The study of 177 employers showed that applicants made dishonest claims about their experience, qualifications and criminal convictions (see table, right). This reinforces the need for thorough background checks – particularly for positions of trust.

Eight in 10 employers (79.1%) were found to conduct background checks for all their vacancies, while one in five (20.9%) did so for some of their posts.

More than eight in 10 (85.3%) use six or more vetting methods for positions of trust, some of which are likely to be reserved for specialist posts.

References are the most common background-checking method, used by 99.4% of respondents. However, the jury is out on how useful they really are.

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As you know employeescreenIQ has always been on the forefront of our industry, setting trends and raising the bar in all areas of employment screening. Each year we come out with the “Top Background Screening Trends to Track” for that particular year. For the past few years a common theme has been Global Screening AKA International Screening, International Background Checks Etc.

While not a new facet of the industry, international background screening continues to gain in importance as U.S. companies open offices globally and/or recruit overseas candidates to work in the U.S.

I am not one to use clichés but one could say that we “Wrote the book on International Screening!” Last year we were asked by a major publisher to write a chapter for an upcoming book on Background Screening and Investigations. This book was just published and co-authored by myself and Nick Fishman.

Shameless plug – Book available at Amazon.com – Background Screening and Investigations – Barry Nixon and Kim Kerr.

Today, we are at an interesting crossroads for both U.S. and international screening. The advent of the internet has made access to and mobility of information easier than ever worldwide. This has resulted in great efficiencies, as well as unintended side effects, such as privacy violations and identity theft. In the U.S., these side effects have been addressed through federal and state legislation requiring a permissible use for the information and strict guidelines regarding information handling and ensuring accuracy and reliability.

Internationally, there are few standards in employment screening processes. From one country to the next, records maintenance capabilities, procedures, and rules for access vary widely. To begin with, the ability to access information in various countries is dependent on compliance with global information exchange rules for ensuring data security across international borders. One such compliance framework is the European Union’s Directive on Data Protection, which prevents the transfer of personal data to non-EU nations that do not meet the European “adequacy” standard for privacy protection. A select few U.S. companies, including employeescreenIQ, are Safe Harbor certified with the U.S. Department of Commerce to meet the requirements for international data exchange and privacy protection. (employeescreenIQ has been Safe Harbor Certified since 2004)

Companies must protect themselves from employees both foreign and domestic. Recently, A worker at HSBC’s Bangalore call centre has been arrested after being allegedly caught supplying personal details to fraudsters who went on to steal £230,000 from 16 of the bank’s UK customers. It not only happens oversees, we see it here in North America as well. A longtime Canada Post employee is accused of stealing hundreds of pieces of mail containing gift cards, cheques, CDs and DVDs over an eight-month period.

employeescreenIQ’s Global Screening Services are an important tool in an increasingly global business environment. As with our domestic services, you can trust employeescreenIQ to stay on top of the latest developments worldwide in accessing reliable, timely, and compliant information to increase the value of your hiring decisions.

For more information regarding international background checks and the valuable service employeescreenIQ provides, please visit us at www.employeescreen.com/global.

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