A survey by employee screening company Powerchex has found that
lies on CVs have halved in a year. In 2006 31% of CVs contained
discrepancies, a figure that has now fallen to 13%. The change runs
counter to a trend of rising dishonesty over the previous five
years, said the firm.
The only category to have risen is that of hidden criminal
records, which spiked by 431%. The company said that this is
because of the increasing use of temporary employees, or
temps.
"This can be attributed to the increased screening of temps, a
group which companies rarely screened in the past. Most of the
undisclosed criminal records were found in that sector," said the
report. In fact 89% of the undisclosed criminal records the survey
found were in the CVs of temps, despite their making up just 20% of
the survey sample.
The study looked at 2,960 job applications to financial
institutions in the UK between June 2006 and May 2007 and compared
them to a sample of 2,487 applications submitted in June 2005 to
May 2006.
It found that 1.24% of this year's applicants, or 36 of them,
did not disclose criminal records. It said that 89% of that group,
or 32, of the people involved were temporary employee
applicants.
“Most financial firms have become good at screening their top
employees,” said Powerchex managing director Alexandra Kelly. “But
an army of unchecked workers are potentially inside the nation’s
banks and financial institutions. And as our findings show,
potential fraudsters are more likely to come in as temps.”
The survey found that women were more likely to have
discrepancies in their CVs overall, with discrepancies appearing in
13% of theirs compared with 10% of men's. Young people were also
more likely to mislead on CVs than older people.
The Office of National Statistics says that financial services
companies are now using 176,000 temporary or contract workers,
including in the IT department.
“Computer workers pose the biggest threat," said Kelly. “Their
backgrounds should be checked through the same process as anyone
else who works in a bank.”
The Financial Services Authority warned as long ago as 2004 that
criminal organisations were targeting financial institutions
through temporary workers. “There is evidence that organised crime
groups deliberately target firms to place staff to commit financial
crime, particularly identity theft. Firms must vet staff
carefully before confirming their appointment," it said in its
Financial Crime Report in 2004.
