If you get them verified by an outside agency or take on yourself the responsibilities of verification and call the concerned educational institution to inquire whether someone studied in your college, how many respected such inquiries as worth answering and respond to you immediately, especially when the inquiry is from a non-governmental organization and from establishments in the private sector. It may take a few days to a few months, especially when the educational institution is located in a state outside the state in which your company is located. What do you do until then? Do you keep your appointments pending until then?
Steps to Verify Educational Certificates
You can consider the following steps based on expediency and prudence.
1. You should have a provision in your disciplinary rules that submitting any false information or documents at the time of employment shall be misconduct.
2. Bring this to the notice of the prospective candidates.
3. Obtain a declaration from them that the educational certificates are genuine and that they would render themselves liable for termination of employment if found false subsequently.
4. Call for the originals of the certificates and verify the photocopies with them to ensure that both match each other.
5. Look for characteristics of the certificates, i.e., look for the quality of paper, print, margins, and borders, etc., to ascertain whether it looks like a certificate issued by a college. If a candidate from the same state/area has submitted a certificate from a college in the same state/area, compare the certificates of the two candidates.
6. Look for the name of the college, their emblems, etc. Normally popular names and emblems are known to everyone. You can refer it to a colleague of yours who comes from that area to verify whether such an institution exists there.
7. Look for designations of authorities who signed them to ensure that the certificates are signed by proper and competent authorities. You can easily know this from the certificates of other candidates or those of other employees who have already joined your company by referring to their files.
8. If, after initial scrutiny, you find some discrepancies prima facie, you can ask the candidate a few probing questions about the college, who was the principal, etc. If the candidate does not answer those questions to your satisfaction, you can earmark those certificates for further verification.
9. If you have a branch in the area or state in which the college is located, you can depute your employee to that college for an expeditious response rather than entrusting it to an outside agency and ask them to submit their report.
However, all the above are only suggestions. You need to discuss with your management and decide on how to go about verification.
Regards,
B. Saikumar
HR & Labor Law Advisor
Mumbai