1. AIM AND SCOPE OF EMPLOYEE SCREENING

The aim of screenings is to determine, as accurately as possible, on behalf of Corporate Verification Services (CVS) clients, whether persons applying for employment have not committed any act that indicates that they are not suitable for employment, a criminal record or any adverse reports recorded against him/her and the nature of such record.

2. INTRODUCTION

2.1. No investigative function serves the best interest of the corporate organisation more than the employee background screening process - the background investigation. The humble background investigation remains pre-eminent in its overall importance. Screening applicants through the pre-employment investigation and new employees by means of post-employment investigations is loss prevention in the purest sense. Loss prevention begins internally, with the employee; only following that does it deal with the non-employee.

2.2. Theft is only one concern in determining whom the corporation employs or seeking employment. There has been an increasing tendency for the courts to extend the area of corporate responsibility for the safety and security of guests, visitors or customers. If a motel chain can be hold civilly liable for not providing adequate security for its guests as was found in a hallmark case in which a guest was raped on company property by a non-employee, how much more liable would a retailer be for employing a known pedophile and placing him/her in a children's department? In similar vein, what is the responsibility of a hospital hiring a laundry employee who has a history of setting fires, a convicted arsonist or pyromaniac? Or a financial institution hiring an embezzler or forger? Or a major oil refinery hiring an alcoholic to drive its gasoline tankers?

2.3. Do such offenders voluntarily come forward, either in the employment interview or on the application for employment and admit that they have a propensity to molest children, set fires, commit fraud, or drink too much? Hardly, their natural impulse is to hide what they know will disqualify them for employment. Because they must work, they will take great care to conceal such derogatory information in order to protect their own interests.

2.4. It follows that an equal if not greater degree of care must be taken by the employer to ensure that only the best candidates are selected and subsequently retained on the payroll So-called "probationary periods" are designed, in large measures, to ensure that the employer has the opportunity to examine, observe and study new employees prior to the commitment or contract of protected employment.

2.5. The marriage contract offers a useful analogy. The application for employment is equivalent to a proposal of marriage. The probationary period is analogous to the engagement period. Successful completion of the probationary period (acceptance of the new employee as a regular employee) leads into the wedding. Once the two parties are married, separation is difficult and often painful. The background investigation must complete its careful examination of the prospective bride or groom before the wedding date.

3. PRE-EMPLOYMENT INVESTIGATIONS

Ideally, all background investigations should be conducted prior to the job offer. In larger companies, the sheer volume of applicants for employment dictates that only the most critical positions are given a full examination prior to the job offer. Other positions, those considered less critical in terms of risk, can receive a quick initial surface check and later, after the new employee has started work, be subjected to a closer examination. It is imperative that client managers realise that all employees pose a risk, from the senior paymaster to the gardener.

3.1. PAST EMPLOYMENT VERIFICATION A primary component of the entire screening process is the verification of past employment. Key questions that must be answered are the following: · Was the applicant in fact employed by the company he/she claimed? · If so, was the applicant employed for then period of time claimed? · Was the applicant employed in the capacity claimed? · Did the applicant leave for the reasons stated? · Is the applicant eligible for re-employment? If not, why? · Were the applicant's earnings as claimed? (This applies, as a rule, only to middle and upper management positions) In pre-employment investigations, the above questions can usually be answered by telephone conversation with a responsible official of the past employer, such as a personnel representative, the owner or someone in the security department. The latter, if such a department exist, is preferable. It is not suggested that other pre-employment work is unnecessary. The amount of effort in background screening that constitutes minimal standards is directly related to a given company's (or security department's) assessment of organisational needs, the sensitivity of the position in terms of risk and the security resources available for background investigations

3.2. Other areas that can be usefully be explored in the pre- or post-employment investigation include, but are not limited to the following : · Does the applicant have a criminal record? · Does the applicant have the skill or education as claimed? · Is the applicant financially responsible? (Credit clearance) · Does the applicant have good health, or the health that he/she claims? · Does the applicant have a political or social bias that would mitigate against successful job performance? Answers to these questions are not in themselves the determiners of employment, but they do constitute areas for dialogue. A conviction for a petty or minor crime would not necessarily be grounds for employment rejection (pre-employment) or discharge (post-emplyment) unless the applicant lied on the application form. The expanded dialogue or discussion would include suck questions as what was the original criminal charge? Was the offence one involving moral turpitude? Does the crime have any relation to, or in any way impact on, the position being sought by the applicant? The ultimate employment decision would be based on the merits and circumstances of each individual case.

3.3. THE NEIGHBOURHOOD CHECK Neighbours and landlords often know a great deal more about a person that might be suspected. They are familiar with the individual's comings and goings, his/her sensitivity to others, his/her predilection of noisy parties, his/her drinking habits, his/her morality, his/her concern for his/her children, his/her standards of home maintenance, care for the yard or for the motor car and so on. If the applicant was or is a renter, the landlord can tell the personnel officer if rent payments are made punctually or not and if payments is made by cash, debit order or bank check. A former landlord will generally be eager to speak revealingly about former renters who left the property in poor condition or when all accounts were not settled amicably. On the other hand, the personnel officer/screening officer will often encounter those who have derogatory information or strong suspicions about the applicant in question but are reluctant to speak unfavorably about someone looking for work. How does the personnel officer/screening officer overcome this kind of problem? By giving the interviewee a way to tell you what you need to know. The way is to provide an option. The personnel officer/screening officer should avoid boxing the person in by requiring, for example, a "yes" or "no" answer to questions. The neighbourhood check, knocking on doors and asking people how well they knew or know the applicant and what their assessment of his/her qualifications is, can be a gold mine of information - and also of surprises.

4. EXAMINATION OF THE APPLICATION FORM

The application form, which is permanently in the control of the Personnel Department after its satisfactory completion, can be examined carefully for the following indicators of possible deception:

4.1. Questions not answered or left blank Example question: "Have you ever been convicted for an offence other than a minor traffic violation?" Comment: The employee who has been so convicted is often afraid to lie and will attempt to avoid falsifying the document by not answering the question.

4.2. Unexplained gaps in the employment history Example: 10/84 to 06/85 Ace Trucking 06/85 to 03/86 Koshikov Tire & brakes 06/86 to 06/93 McCall & Sons Comment: The period from March 86 to June 86 is unaccounted for. Was he ill? Was he in jail for theft from the tire and brake shop? It must be determined what the employee was doing for that period of time.

4.3. Erasures or strike-outs and scratch -outs Comment: To be unsure of or to change one's mind in answering a question such as the reason for leaving a job is a danger signal, an indicator of possible deception (not a fact, it should be emphasised, but an indicator worth exploring)

4.4. Answers that presumably cannot be checked Example: Giving as a "reason for leaving" the answer: "Went out of business". Comment: This answer is a convenient and common technique of hiding employment with a firm, still actually in business, from which one was discharged, or for covering time spent in incarceration.

4.5. Failure to affix the required signature at the conclusion of questions (bottom of the form). Comment: Failure to sign the form could be indicative of a reluctance, conscious or otherwise, to perjure oneself. There is logic to an honest person's work history. The personnel officer/screening Officer must therefor be sensitive to the illogical.

5. EMPLOYMENT VERIVICATION AND REFERENCE LETTERS

In pre-employment screening, as we have seen, verification of past employment usually is by telephone. In the post-employment period a rather common practice in the private sector in verifying past employment is to visit the former employee asking for employment verification and eligibility for re-employment.

5.1. An ex-employer or company will often be reluctant to reduce that information to writing for fear of accusations of defamation of character or some other repercussions. The alternative is to say noting. This failure to respond, if properly controlled by the point of origin of the request, (personnel), signals the need to make further inquiry.

5.2. Variances in dates of employment as reflected by returned letters should be reported to the responsible official. (There is usually little if any reluctance on the part of former employers to reflect discrepancies).

5.3. "Not eligible for re-employment" responses must be perused further, either by Personnel, or if Personnel is unable to obtain a satisfactory explanation, by security. All to often this area of employment verification becomes routine and its true value is lost, primarily because these controls and follow-up procedures are not fully understood and consistently practiced.

6. ONGOING BACKGROUND INVESTIGATIONS

Background investigations of prospective or new employees will consume the bulk of the screening effort, but such investigations should not be limited only to such employees. A background check of a suspect employee or group of employees can be productive in specific investigations. In addition, an ongoing program of updating background information on key personnel- people in the computer, finance, personnel and security areas, for instance, should be part of the screening unit's responsibility. Only such a comprehensive and continually updated program can insure that only the best possible people come into the company, remain in it and advance in its ranks.

7. TYPES OF SCREENINGS

CVS offers the following types of individual screenings:

7.1. SAPS fingerprint clearances The SAPS fingerprint clearance is the ultimate criminal clearance tool. This requires a full set of fingerprints with an indemnity supplied to the South African Police Services (SAPS) Criminal Record Centre (CRC). These clearances can take from one week to 3 months to process depending on the workload of the SAPS.

7.2. SAPS Identity number clearance The SAPS identity number clearance is a fast, but not foolproof way of clearing individuals. A copy of the applicant's identity document is required.

7.3. Credit clearance Individuals are cleared for credit at two credit information companies.

7.4. CVS Database check A database at CVS contains over 1 700 000 individuals who, throughout the years, have been screened or reported on adversely.

7.5. Education verification Various employment- and labour organisations and education institutes supply information to CVS to enable the verification of educational certificates.

8. CRIMINAL RECORDS

8.1. Criminal records can only by obtained from the South African Police Services (SAPS) Criminal Record Centre (CRC) when an indemnity is provided.

8.2. Without a full set of fingerprints employees cannot be considered cleared of criminal records. Responsible officials must bring this to the attention of all client managers when they assume responsibility for the management of their respective companies.

8.3. The practice of only using "Identity number clearances" is not recommended. To many inconsistencies with regards to identity numbers have been reported.

8.4. CVS (Pty) Ltd takes no responsibility in the correctness or accuracy of the information (SAP 69) supplied by the SAPS CRC

9. AREAS OF EMPOYMENT FOR SCREENING

9.1. It is recommended that areas for screening be divided in two areas; high risk or position of trust and lower risk areas. These should be dealt with as follows :
9.1.1. High risk or position of trust: · These employees should undergo a complete fingerprint and credit clearance. This will include a CVS database check
9.1.2. Lower risk areas: · These employees should at least undergo an Identity clearance and credit clearance. This will include a CVS database check

9.2. The Client Manager must determine which job areas he considered being high risk and which lower.

10. SCREENING CONTROL RECORDS

11.1. Client companies are to be requested to provide CVS with details of, with reason, all summary discharges, transfers, or resignations of all client employees who were in a position of trust and had been screened, as well as those non-screened employees who had been found guilty for acts of dishonesty.

11. BREAK IN EMPLOYMENT

12.1. Any former employee in a position of trust who returns to employment after a period of time, may again so be employed but must be rescreened.

12.2. Any employee who has no broken service should be rescreened every 5 years.

12. EMPLOYMENT BY COMPANY BEFORE SCREENING

13.1. Management should be discouraged from employing persons in a position of trust before the screening process is completed and recommendations are received from CVS. If, however, this has to be done, it is recommended that the employee be told that he/she is on probation pending the outcome of his/her screening.

13.2. It should be noted that the screening process can take up to 3 months, depending on the workload at the CRC, Pretoria.

13.3. Any person employed prior to or in spite of the screening indicating a criminal record, is the responsibility of the Client Company and no liability or claim of any sort may be attached to CVS. The responsible official must insist to have the screening indemnity by client manager completed for any such occurrence.

13. RE-SCREENING OF EMPLOYEES

14.1. It is recommended that employees selected for screening be re-screened on a regular basis. The possibility that an employee committed an offence, was arrested and found guilty in a Court of Law for a criminal or civil offence is a not that far-fetched.

14.2. With the present justice system, am employee can be arrested for a serious crime and be released on bail the same day without any suspicion on the side of the employer. It is therefore imperative that employees be re-screened on a regular basis.

14.3. The period of re-screening is the prerogative of the client manager. An international standard recommended is no more that 3 years.