Document Fraud in Hiring: Are HR Managers Really Facing This Challenge Daily?

Greetings all,

Lately, there have been many issues relating to document fraud. Is this a common concern among most hiring managers and HR personnel, or is it just hype created to promote third-party verification services? It would be nice to hear from those actually facing such challenges on a day-to-day basis.

Thank you.

Hi,

I presume you are discussing a common threat of documentation fraud.

This is not hype created by a verification company. The documentary "fraud" as mentioned is on the increase along with employment opportunities.

This is happening at different stages:

a) Fake mark sheets/ mark sheets from dubious institutes: Many institutes that exist only on paper have started giving certificates of diploma, PG diploma, certificate courses, and advanced courses. They claim they are autonomous institutes. These do not have approval/accreditation from UGC/AICTE/NAAC/State technical education boards/any university. These certificates are given for trades (turner, fitter, etc.), Nursing, Diploma in Education, CAD/CAM/programming.

b) Fake Experience certificates: This occurs with candidates themselves and also from some fake training institutes that lure students with offers of live projects and deputation offers to big companies. Lately, there have been many fake experience certificates being submitted regarding working abroad, especially in the Gulf countries. Even if you try to verify the documents, the same will be unsuccessful.

Hence, the documents need to be verified in a detailed manner.

Kind regards,

Dayanand L Guddin
GM- Str. HR
Endurance Technologies Ltd

Dayanand,

Thank you for your response.

I'd presume the documentation fraud is limited to workers in the knowledge processes. Surprisingly, it is hurting India on a greater scale, with nations that once sourced Indian talent shying away, making their immigration policies more stringent.

From the domestic viewpoint, what could be the percentage of companies that actually verify their new hires? The Nasscom/NSR initiative is for fee-paying partner companies. I wonder how many SMEs could really do without verifying their workforce... Would there be figures to understand this??

Dear Namita, it is very important to conduct background verification of new hires. Employees are critical resources of any organization, so we need to be very cautious in hiring them. We do background verification for our new joiners.

Regards, Shaikh

How are the checks conducted if I may ask? I read a report that there are some 850 background verification companies in India. The only standard is a NASSCOM empaneled certification. It would be nice to know how these checks are conducted. Most, I inquired, tell me it is a proprietary process and our company policies prohibit us from disclosing the same.

I am really concerned, not so much with the issue, as much with the 'solutions' currently out there. Or maybe I lack the knowledge. Could anyone help me understand this?

Shaikh,

There are some 850 verification companies, is what I read. The only standard established is being NASSCOM Empanelled. Would there be any other mandate that establishes the authenticity of these verification companies?

Secondly, what does the actual process of verification comprise of??

Your feedback will be greatly appreciated.

Hi,

We do not use verification companies. We have a panel of our freelancers. Our experiences with the so-called verification companies were not very good as there were fakes in them too.

The process we follow is detailed, and we have been able to obtain very quality and credible data. However, it takes 40 to 60 days.

a) We maintain a database of institutes accredited by appropriate agencies like AICTE, UGC, NAAC, State Directorate of Technical Education. Firstly, we verify if the institute exists in the list or not. We have also maintained a database of dubious institutes that we have collected from time to time.

b) For the verification of mark sheets, we usually approach the issuing college/university, though it is a laborious process.

c) For experience certificates, we check directly with previous employers, and this is a prerequisite of our terms of employment. We usually do not hire people who claim that the company they were working for is closed down during a recession abroad. In India, the list of closed industries will be available through BIFR cases, and in the case of SMEs, it is the district industries center or the labor authorities from whom the shops and establishment licenses are obtained.

Kind regards,

Dayanand

It generally consists of two steps:

1. Telephonic discussion with the HR department regarding the ex-employee.
2. Verification of documents provided by the ex-employee in the new organization and questionnaire.

A sample is attached.

Regards,
Shaikh