by Sonya Skipp

iFacts, a leading employee screening and vetting organisation, has published its annual employee screening trends report. With these insights, iFacts offers an overview of the current trends in employee screening and vetting.

Employee screening is incredibly important to ensure a candidate is qualified and suited to the job in question. Organisations that do not screen or vet their employees open their companies up to great risk of damage, theft, unsavoury behaviour, and legal action.

4% of candidates checked have criminal records.

A criminal record check must be one of a bouquet of checks an employee must undergo. Due to the low conviction rate, and ineffective judicial system in South Africa, many criminals are neither caught nor convicted. A lack of criminal record does not indicate a lack of criminal intent. We suggest doing integrity testing as one of the various checks an employee should receive.

13% of driver’s licenses verified are invalid.

Increased demand for cab drivers, public transport, and delivery drivers, as well as the collapse of the rail system and post office in South Africa, has led to more drivers on the road. Of all the drivers in South Africa, only 13 million people have a legally issued driver’s license. When hiring someone in the transport and logistics sector, a legal driver's license is a must.

40% of PDPs issues were invalid.

To professionally drive on a public road in South Africa, whilst transporting goods, of any kind, or passengers, you must have a professional driving permit (PDP). The permit is issued in addition to an ordinary driving license and both are needed for drivers in the transport and logistics sector.

15% of HPCSA registrations were not valid.

Health Professionals must be registered with the Health Professionals Council of South Africa in order to practice. We have seen an increase in the demand for verification of HPCSA registration. This is possibly due to an increase in the need for the elderly to have in-house carers.

8% of security industry checks were invalid.

Security personnel need to be qualified to be allowed to work as security officers. If they are not certified, it is illegal for them to work as security personnel. A consumer making use of an illegal security company or officer could receive a criminal conviction, despite whether or not they were aware.

14% of credit checks conducted showed a negative credit record.

Candidates applying for a position in finance can have a credit check conducted on them, with their permission. Financial positions are positions of risk and when hiring without proper knowledge of the candidate's financial history, a company opens itself up to significant risk.

51% of people checked do not comply with FAIS regulations.

A FAIS check will establish whether or not a candidate has been authorised by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority to advise clients on financial or insurance services as per the FAIS Act. Being compliant allows the assurance that anyone working or advising in the financial or insurance sector is legally allowed to do so.

7% of matric qualifications (South African school leaving certificate) are invalid.

Qualification fraud is up, and matric certificates are one of the certificates that are most often falsified. South Africa’s high unemployment rate combined with a low successful school leaving record, adds fuel to the fire of qualification fraud. Qualifications verifications are one of the checks you must employ as an employer.

4% of South African tertiary qualifications are invalid.

Tertiary qualifications are also very often falsified in order to get jobs people are unqualified for. This is another element of qualification fraud. Individuals are willing to pay for false qualifications and have no shame in producing these to support their CV’s when applying for jobs.

16% of personal contact information verified is invalid.

Data for up to five current and previous telephone numbers, addresses, and employers are returned for the candidate, based on their ID number. This may mean that their ID number is not connected to the contact numbers or that they do not live at the address they have stated.

Social Media Risk Assessments

With the influx of social media, there is an increased need for social media risk assessments. Due to people’s comfort in using social media, they will often share their true thoughts and feelings on all kinds of topics that an employer may be interested in knowing about.

When asked which areas of background screening organisations were considering expanding upon or starting to use, social media was the top selection.

The most negative information our social media checks revealed, included discrimination, unprofessional content (includes sexual image, defamation, aggressive content), drug use, Illegal acts (drinking and driving, sex work, potential fraud, assault) and fake news.

This content was found on the following platforms:

Facebook 36%

Twitter 34%

Instagram 19%

Tik Tok 15%

Every year we expand our parameters to include more of our employee screening checks, providing even more insights on the latest in employee screening and vetting trends. For more information on employee screening and vetting visit iFacts. Hire with confidence. Hire with iFacts. Click here to view the Employee Screening Trends Report.

Contact Sonya Skipp, CEO, +27 11 453 1627 or visit the iFacts website www.ifacts.co.za

As the General Manager at iFacts in South Africa, Sonya Skipp has the responsibility to oversee the daily operations of the company at an executive level. From marketing and sales to finance and administration, Sonya helps ensure that the business is strengthened through new products, operational system skills, and consistent development. Sonya and her team are always seeking effective corporate security strategies for iFacts clients that will help develop their businesses, while reducing risk and ensuring the introduction of proactive and innovative solutions for the future.