Managed Integrity Evaluation (MIE), which claims to be the largest background screening company in Southern Africa, says that a large number of job candidates do not disclose their criminal history on application.<\/p>\n
MIE’s data is pulled from its vetting services conducted over the past year – and published in an annual background screening report. The company conducted a total of 561,346 qualification checks in 2016 – up 17% from 2015.<\/p>\n
Director and CEO, Ina van der Merwe, warned that failing to hire the right people with the right skills, qualifications and experience for a particular position can cause an organisation serious financial as well as reputational harm.<\/p>\n
“As a whole, cross-border qualifications from African and international institutions are the most likely to be misrepresented, fraudulent or inconsistent as candidates believe foreign qualifications will not be checked or verified,” van der Merwe said.<\/p>\n
Risks in this regard are also on the rise increasing from 40% in 2015 to 42% in 2016.<\/p>\n
In terms of criminal record checks, van der Merwe said that MIE completed 741,560 checks – of which, 10% of candidates had a criminal record. An even more concerning statistic is that out of the 10% of candidates with a criminal record – 48,167 candidates did not disclose their criminal history on application.<\/p>\n
“We also noted that the manufacturing and mining industries are at greater risk, as these sectors recorded the highest number of candidates with criminal histories \u2013 ranging between 18% and 20%,” van der Merwe said.<\/p>\n
MIE\u2019s qualification checks are processed through the National Qualifications Register which has a database of over 3.8 million graduate records and 25 subscribing tertiary institutions.<\/p>\n
Using the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) when verifying the criminal record statuses of candidates, all fingerprints captured are electronically checked against the South African Police Service (SAPS) database.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are no \u2018ifs\u2019 or \u2018buts\u2019 when it comes to the accuracy of this process. If you have omitted information about a criminal offence \u2013 we\u2019ll know about it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
MIE said that the demand for verification of a candidates\u2019 credit history has declined in recent years due to the amendment to the National Credit Act (NCA) in 2015.<\/p>\n
The company conducted 462,466 credit checks on candidates in 2016 and 17% of candidates had an unfavourable credit history.<\/p>\n
It warned that individuals qualified to work in the financial industry handling cash or finances, may not be suitable to do so due to an unfavourable credit record.<\/p>\n