How Can I Verify the HR Executive's LLB Certificate Without Causing Conflict?

Hi all,

I have recently joined the organization and head the HR department.

We have an HR Executive whose qualification is LLB and has provided a copy of the mark sheet from a northern University, which is available in his personal file. He had joined the organization about 1.5 years before me.

In his correspondence, both internal and external, I have never come across any legal terminology, not even by mistake.

Even for a simple letter directing an unauthorized employee to report back for duty immediately and offer a written explanation, his draft was poor and needed correction.

This situation raises doubts for me - and I hope I am wrong - regarding whether he has truly passed his LLB examination and if the qualification certificate is genuine.

As he is the HR Executive and was with the organization before me, I find it difficult to question him about the authenticity of the certificate, as I fear the management may not approve.

Under these circumstances, please advise me on how to ensure the educational qualifications of employees are genuine, especially in the case of the HR Executive mentioned above.

Best regards,

Dhinakaran

Hi,

Please obtain a copy of the degree and send it to the registrar for verification. They will return it by post with a verification stamp.

Regards,
Tareen

Dear Tareen,

Thank you for the suggestion, but I feel that it will be time-consuming and cannot be dealt with in confidentiality. Also, I wonder if the Registrar's offices will be able to comply with our request just by correspondence from the Organization regarding the genuineness of the certificates. Please comment.

Regards,
Dhinakaran

It is not necessary that if you passed LLB, then your drafting should be very good. It may be possible that after completing his LLB, he directly joined the company and didn't practice. But you mentioned that it was too bad, then it is a serious matter because an LLB graduate, especially one in HR, should be well-versed in correspondence. You can see his certificate and verify it with the college, or you can ask him some law-related questions which are common for an LLB student. After asking, you can form an idea.

Regards,
Manish

Dear Dinakaran,

This is the only way you can ensure the genuineness of the certificate. The college or university registrar can verify that the certificate is genuine, no matter how long it takes.

Please issue a memorandum informing the employees that from now on, every document will be verified by the department.

For future reference, consider adding a clause to the application form stating that if any information is found to be false, services will be terminated with immediate effect.

Thank you.

Dear Manisha,

Thank you for your comments.

The point I would like to make is that, having passed the LLB exam, there should be a slight scent of legal terminology in our correspondence, which is currently missing in our communication.

Additionally, when it comes to matters related to disciplinary actions, the absence of his input on advising legal consequences is noticeable.

Therefore, the question of verifying the certificates has arisen in my mind. I will explore the possibility of reaching out to the registrar and will keep everyone informed of the results, just for your information.

Regards,
Dhinakaran

I think it is right for you to check the authenticity of the certificate. It is obligatory that the registrar certifies the certificates from his or her university. You can inform the registrar to treat the information confidential. Indeed, verification of the authenticity of certificates is a normal HR procedure, and you do not have anything to fear. However, you should also appreciate that if the certificate is fake, then the employee could try to intercept any correspondence regarding his certificate.

Good luck,

Paa Kow

Hi all,

I have recently joined the organization and head the HR department.

We have an HR Executive whose qualification is LLB and has provided a copy of the mark sheet from a northern University, which is available in his personal file. He had joined the organization about 1.5 years before me.

In his correspondence, both internal and external, I have never come across any legal terminology, not even by mistake. Even for a simple letter directing an unauthorized employee to report back for duty immediately and offer a written explanation, his draft was poor, requiring correction.

This situation leaves me with serious doubts - and I hope I am mistaken - regarding whether he has actually passed his LLB examination and whether the qualification certificate is genuine.

Given his position as the HR Executive and having been with the organization prior to my arrival, I find it challenging to question him about the authenticity of his certificate, as I fear the management may not appreciate such inquiries.

Under these circumstances, please advise me on how I can ensure the educational qualifications of employees are legitimate, especially in the case of the HR Executive I mentioned earlier.

Best regards,
Dhinakaran

If you observe the posts made by many members on citehr, you will notice their requests for help, etc.

Their English language skills are quite poor, yet they introduce themselves as HR Managers, Senior HR Executives, and so on.

If a HR Manager or Senior HR Executive, especially on citehr, struggles with basic drafting skills, it raises concerns about their job performance.

And you, like a police officer, doubting the integrity of an HR Executive, especially within your own organization, who is also your colleague, is deeply concerning to me.

I am truly disappointed by this.

You must understand that many students juggle work and studies throughout the year, and during exams, they might focus solely on passing without retaining all the information afterward.

Drafting legal letters comes with experience, not just from studying LLB.

In my organization, I work closely with our Admn-Legal Head and our Advocate. I study their letters closely, and when I draft any correspondence, I refer to their work for guidance, especially for legal terminology.

Thank you.

Dear Manisha,

Thank you for your comments. The point I would like to make is that, having passed the LLB exam, there should be a slight scent of legal terminology in our correspondence, which seems to be missing in our person. Furthermore, in matters related to disciplinary actions, his involvement in advising on legal consequences is also absent. This has raised questions in my mind regarding the verification of his certificates. I will explore the possibilities of contacting the registrar and will keep everyone informed of the results, just for information.

What legal advice do you expect from your person if he is not trained or has never worked in a legal capacity? As HR, why not consider training him and assuming that his LLB certificate is genuine? Your current mindset seems to lean towards verifying his certificate and potentially terminating his employment. HR's role should involve training and developing individuals. Look for qualities beyond legal expertise in this person. Avoid fixating on the legal aspect and initiating termination procedures.

I believe it is unethical to verify certificates of existing employees; typically, certificate verification is done for new candidates. It is not in the organization's best interest and is not a recommended practice.

Best regards,
Dhinakaran

The Issue of Fake Degrees

Taking fake degrees has become very simple nowadays. Even if someone enrolls for a genuine degree and completes the course within the specified duration, the University or Institute may provide a fake educational certificate. The candidate may not be aware of this because there are many fraudulent institutes in the educational field. These institutes do not have affiliation with the University but manage to get the education completed through the relevant University. Sometimes, even the University is not aware of these institutes.

Verification of Educational Documents

If you genuinely want to verify educational documents with the University, there is a specific process for each University. Please reach out to them, and they will provide information about the verification process.

Thank you,

Raju

We are all Indians, and in India, it is not uncommon to see postgraduates struggling to draft letters. There are many backward states in India where it is easier to obtain a genuine degree from a university. The point is not whether the individual has a genuine degree, but rather how to improve the performance of the available resource or consider replacing the resource.

If you assist him in enhancing his performance, he will be ever grateful and obedient to you. However, if you observe no improvement despite providing your feedback, you may give him some time to seek out a change.

Hope this helps.

It would be inappropriate for you to personally verify the certificates of your colleagues. Instead, consider educating or convincing your management to implement a background verification process for all employees, covering both educational and professional aspects. However, ensure not to use your colleagues' names as a pretext for initiating this process.

Conducting verification for a specific candidate is not advisable unless the management decides to do so.

If you proceed with the verification process for your colleague and your suspicion proves incorrect, it may become evident to the management that you are targeting a particular candidate. This could lead to scrutiny and potentially result in the termination of your employment.

As mentioned by other CiteHR members, many working professionals lack drafting skills these days. I suggest taking the initiative to conduct soft-skill training sessions or email etiquette sessions at your organization. As the head of the HR team, this will enhance your recognition and add value to your role.

I hope my suggestion adds value to your query.

Thanks and Regards,

Ramu Kakitha

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