Case Studies

These sample case studies illustrate the importance of various employee background checks. The names of the individuals and the companies have been kept confidential.

Absconding Manager

• A Sales Manager in a large HR outsourcing company.
• Claimed sales experience in a multi-national company.
• Upon verification, it was found that he had left the earlier employer without serving the notice period.
• Both the resignation letter and pay slip which he had furnished as proofs of employment were completely forged.

Falsification of Employment and Reference

• A Senior Analyst claimed working with a large IT company.
• Had submitted the reference of his earlier manager and the experience letter from the previous employer.
• Upon detailed verification with the earlier employer, it was found that the experience letter was completely forged. Also, the ‘earlier manager’ who was cited as a reference (and who ‘testified’ over a phone call) was a bogus/decoy reference, was just an acquaintance of the employee, and was never associated with the earlier employer.

Salary ‘Inflation’

• A salesperson in a technology company claimed an annual salary (CTC) as Rs 5.33 lakhs and had negotiated an annual salary of Rs 6.40 lakhs with the new employer.
• Upon verification, it was found that the appointment letter giving salary details had been doctored to show the higher salary, while the actual salary was only Rs 3.63 lakhs. So the falsification of salary enabled him to get 75% increment!
• The new employer of course, did much better. They spent a limited amount of money (assuming applied checks – address, employment, criminal, education), managed to save few lakhs in overpayment of salary and avoided hiring a dishonest employee.

Vanishing Act with Rs 42 lakhs

• Driver of private security agency was entrusted to drive a cash collection van for one of the largest cash collection companies.
• At a petrol pump when the other team members take a break, he took off with Rs 42 lakhs cash!
• Police investigation revealed that no background checks had been done by contracting agency.
• Even his given address was fake leaving little scope or evidence for rounding him up.