Develop a robust employment screening process

One method of reducing the risk of fraud in your organisation is to ensure you do not employ a person who has previously been convicted of fraudulent activity. To do this, an organisation should undertake an appropriate employment screening process.

The process should be undertaken prior to the final acceptance of an offer of employment and also when an employee is promoted to a management position.

Examples of the type of screening that should be undertaken are as follows:

• Conduct a criminal history check to determine if the person has a previous conviction for a fraud related offence. Consent will be needed by the potential employee to enable such a search to be undertaken;
• Verify the potential employees previous work history. Before contacting referees, verify the contact telephone numbers of the referees to ensure you are making contact with the appropriate person;
• Verify qualifications. Consent may need to be obtained from the potential employee to enable confirmation to be obtained from educational facilities and professional bodies;
• Give the applicant an opportunity to provide reasons for gaps in employment;
• Conduct an internet search such as a Google search. It’s amazing what can be found on the internet;
• Check social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter for postings by the potential employee.