Fraudulent qualifications are rife in South African businesses these days and no business, no matter how prestigious, is safe from this epidemic. The news is absolutely saturated with stories of fraudulent qualifications, sometimes being discovered after years of employment. Our own government is amassing scandal after scandal about hiring ministers without the necessary qualifications.
When it comes out that a company’s employees do not have the qualifications they ought to have, there is simply no way that the company that hired them will come out entirely unscathed. Reputations have been destroyed over less, and depending on the employee’s job and the industry in which they operate, the consequences could be unimaginably far-reaching.
Anyone who applies for a job using a fraudulent qualification is already someone who is not to be trusted. They’re obviously not credible or honourable and as such, they could commit fraud, they could be willing to let cybercriminals into your system, could damage your property, ruin your reputation, and more. In the case of industries like healthcare, false qualifications could even lead to fatalities.
Qualifications verifications are the simplest way to avoid hiring someone with fraudulent qualifications and negate the financial, reputational, service, and performance risks involved with not effectively vetting potential and current employees. The likelihood of being taken in by false qualifications when you neglect proper screening and vetting is obviously significantly higher and thus, you put your business at much more risk.
But what will happen if your employee screening has failed, and you have employed someone with a fraudulent qualification?
With regards to the holder of the false qualification, as of 2019, the South African laws changed, and employees or candidates who have presented fraudulent qualifications must be automatically reported to the authorities. They are then listed with the SAFPS and a criminal case is opened against them. This can result in the person with the fraudulent qualification facing jail time.
As for your company, the damage or penalties could be significant. More than any other risks, if the person is employed to do something critical, you can be held liable for the damage they may have caused due to simply not knowing what they need to be doing. This ignorance could result in catastrophic reputational and legal issues for your business.
It is in fact, your responsibility to properly vet your employees and ensure that anyone you hire to do a job, is properly qualified. There’s also the staff morale aspect to look at, if all your staff is aware that the new hire doesn’t know what they’re doing, they will not be pleased. Thus, lowering staff morale and motivation. Your business partners and investors will also be displeased if it comes out that you did not do your due diligence and may wish to pull their investments.
Fraudulent qualifications are always trouble for everyone involved.
iFacts offers qualification verification services so that your company can avoid a plethora of risks that come with fraudulent qualifications. We suggest qualification verifications for potential and current employees for effective employee management and to ensure you hire credible, qualified people.
Hire with confidence. Hire with iFacts.