Job applicants are
regularly falsifying their CVs with one in four supplying misleading
information to employers.
And only two per cent of companies
verify the background and qualifications of new staff, according to a survey of
1,200 UK employers.
Published by Recruit with
Confidence, the survey finds that despite existing government legislation
making it mandatory for financial services firms to carry out proper checks on
new staff, many companies are still taking risks.
Recruit with Confidence CEO Steve
Bailey said: "It seems as if more legislation will be required before the
majority of employers wake up to… the appalling risks they are taking."
The survey notes that when
properly checked one in four CVs are at least partly falsified – an observation
reinforced by a recent Financial Times report that screened 600 applications,
finding one in four contained "discrepancies", and 63 contained
serious discrepancies such as exaggerated qualifications.
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Recruit with Confidence
highlighted horror stories such as "convicted offenders visiting
vulnerable members of the public, unqualified paramedics in life or death
situations and fraudsters running the payroll", which it claimed could be
easily and cheaply prevented.
By
Ian Broatch
