The Increasing Importance of Identity Verification for Employees (New and Existing)
Fraud is on the rise thanks to COVID-19 and the impact it has had on the job market. With so many organizations short-staffed and so many people out of work, the responsibility for verifying the identity of the people you hire rests firmly on the employer's shoulders.
Not only do you want to hire the person you believe you are employing, along with their experience and credentials, you also want to protect your employees, customers, and reputation by hiring people who have no violent histories. If you haven't conducted appropriate pre-hire screening on existing employees, now is the time to do so as well. You want to make sure you can trust the people you're working with at a time like this.
What Does COVID-19 Have to do with Identity Theft?
Once upon a time, the job market was flooded with people who had come to the U.S. from around the world seeking better lives and new employment. Identity theft made it possible for them to obtain fake documentation proclaiming them to be people who were here legally. In the world of COVID-19, though, the focus has shifted from people entering the country illegally to those seeking to escape criminal pasts or to commit new crimes using someone else’s identity.
Millions of people are currently out of work. In fact, the number of jobless in the U.S. topped 40 million in May 2020. Before the second surge sent employees recently re-entering the workforce back home according to increasing state and local mandates.
That means the job market is flooded with highly qualified candidates as well as those who are seeking employment-based on the good names of others. Social media makes it easier than ever for identity thieves to build personas based on other people. That means that you need to make effective identity verification efforts before bringing new hires into the fold.
Credentialing Potential Employees
The next step of the process is to verify the experience and expertise of people you are considering for employment. That is, of course, in addition to pre-employment background screenings to ensure that prospective employees have the work and education history they claim to have – once you’ve verified that they are, in fact, who they claim to be.
Whether your organization is large or small, it is more important than ever to hire the people you believe you’re hiring. Unfortunately, the reality of life during a pandemic is that you must attempt to trust in the goodness of your fellow man but also take the time and make the effort to verify that what they are telling you is true. That is until that person has earned your trust, something that takes time to accomplish. Until then, you have background screenings, identity verification, and other tools to help you through.
Microbilt is here to help you with all your credentialing needs so you can make wise, fact-based hiring decisions. Contact us today to learn more about the tools and services we have and how our services can grow with your business.