What you need to know about the new direct marketing guidance note
Nadine Mather and Chloë Loubser
Criminals increasingly trying to slip into employment
According to the latest Annual Background Screening Report, released by Employers' Mutual Protection Service (EMPS) 14,5 applicants out of 100 checked have a criminal record, based on AFIS (Automated Fingerprint Identification System) fingerprint searches (1.5% down on 2008) and 5% on the name/ID search (1% up on 2008).
As part of its service to its clients, the company creates this statistical report of all the background checks completed for its clients from January 2009 to December 2009. These statistics cover a variety of industries within the South African business sector, including but not limited to, retail, FMCG, fast food, transport, motor, security, courier, legal, hospitality, entertainment, recruitment, finance and insurance.
Common convictions
The most common convictions picked up were theft at 28%, road traffic act offences at 19% and assault at 18%. Housebreaking and fraud were each as high as 7% of the convictions held. Even more frightening was the fact that 22% of applicants with a criminal record are repeat offenders, 9% have three convictions and 4% have four convictions. A further 5% have between 5-9 convictions each.
The report also looks at the date of convictions picked up, with records dating as far back as 1968. The relevance of this is that many employers are now not only looking at the type of conviction to establish relevance to the job but they are now also looking at the conviction date of applicants. Convictions older than 10-20 years are often overlooked in order not to discriminate against individuals who may have been rehabilitated. The majority were however from between 1993 and 2007.
Although the trend is on the up, driver's license verifications improved from 2008's staggering 20% of invalid licenses down to 13% in 2009. This change is most likely due to the fact that people are renewing licenses more, as invalid licenses not only refer to ones that don't exist but also those that have expired or not been renewed.
Credit blacklisting
The percentage of applicants with poor credit records has remained quite constant at between 21-25%. At least one in four applicants has been listed with a credit bureau. The company estimates a further dramatic increase in 2010 due to tough economic circumstances experienced by applicants in 2009.
Other issues
- 8.5% of all qualifications submitted for verification were unverified
- 8% of ID documents were invalid/unverifiable
- 10% did not show integrity levels suitable for employment, using psychometric assessment
- 20% failed on the issue of previous theft or dishonesty when tested using pre-employment polygraph.
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