Caught a Forged Relieving Letter: How Can I Improve My Document Verification Process?

Hi Friends, I am working in an MNC as Talent Acquisition (Recruitment). We have recruited a person for a particular position. At the time of the interview and joining, he provided relevant salary slips and a relieving letter. So we hired him, but during background verification (after joining), we discovered that his relieving letter was forged. Please help me figure out how to verify their documents and improve my reference check process.

Can conduct antecedent verification of the employee from their previous employer or through a verification agency and can take action as per company policy.

Thanks, Ravinder. We have started the process of conducting reference checks for the new joiners. Could you suggest more ways to avoid these kinds of discrepancies when shortlisting candidates?

Dear Sasihr06,

There is no foolproof method of eliminating such incidents; these are the result of desperate, helpless, or unethical minds, depending on the situation. Understand the real situation behind why a candidate faked such documents. There are many possibilities.

A candidate may be a genuine person. Sometimes company management can be nasty and may not issue a relieving letter. Due to this, out of desperation or helplessness, candidates may resort to creating fake letters. As long as they can establish the work experience tenure with other authentic supporting documents, you may consider them. However, this also depends on your company policy. I'm just suggesting.

During the screening process, inform the candidate that any falsified documents will be discovered during reference checks. This can lead to legal action, immediate dismissal, and blacklisting. Hopefully, this should deter unethical behavior.

Maintain a checklist of standard documents and ensure you collect them before an offer is given. Complete necessary reference checks as the interview process is ongoing.

You can also request the candidate to submit a salary certificate (including details of employment) from the current employer. The candidate can approach the HR or accounting department to obtain the salary certificate, which should mention the employment tenure, job title, and monthly salary package. The candidate can give an excuse for loan purposes, etc. A genuine candidate would be willing to provide this document.

I hope this was helpful.

After passing through the interview process and medical test, the background verification check must be completed so that the offer letter may be issued only to those who successfully cleared their background verification check. After joining the company, it is very difficult for either the management or the candidate to face the problem.

As stated by Mr. Husain Zulfikar, you can ask them to provide the salary certificate or their payslip, which can be considered as proof of their employment in that company. This can be verified with their salary account deposit amount. The payslip net amount and bank account statement for credit of salary can be matched to check their employment in the company, where PAN number, PF number, designation, salary package, and other relevant details will be available.

With that PF number, you can cross-check the balance and trace out the individual's basic details, and any discrepancies can be easily identified.

Hi Hussain Zulfikar, thank you so much. As you suggested, I will verify their documents during the interview process itself. I will give prior intimation to the candidates that if any forged documents are found at the time of reference check, as per our company policy, we will take the necessary actions.

Thanks again.

Regards,
Santhanalakshmi R

Dear Sasi, past employment verification is the best solution to the problem of forged documents. Verify the work history of your candidates before hiring them to ensure that what's mentioned on their resumes is true, and they are presenting genuine documents to you.

Today, a large number of online past employment verification tools are available which accelerate and simplify the verification process. I personally use Verified Resources. It helps verify candidate details including work experience, last withdrawn salary, status of exit formalities, and whether the notice period was served or not.

Here is the link www.verifiedresources.com.

You can start using this tool and prevent your potential employees from deceiving you.

Thanks,
Meesha