Recently, Economic Times recently reported that Anthony, an Ex-HR manager of two pvt. firms, was held for misappropriation of funds.
The story goes like this: At the first firm, Anthony stole provident funds (PF) of 23 employees. When the firm found out about the theft, they fired Anthony. Later, in 2015, Anthony joined another firm and yet again stole PF from 5 employees.
The catch here is that the second firm could have avoided falling for the fraud altogether…
…only if they ran a police verification on Anthony before hiring him.
This would have helped them identify criminal tendencies in Anthony and easily prevent potential fraud.
What is Police Verification for job?
Police Verification helps organisations identify any adverse criminal record(s) against a candidate. It comes under the police jurisdiction of the area where the candidate resides.
Usually, passport/visa issuing authorities and recruiting organisations (as a part of their employee BGV process) use police verification to verify a candidate’s background.
What parameters are verified during police verification for jobs?
1. Address
The local police verifies if the candidate truly lives at the address that s/he has claimed during the application process. This address might be temporary or permanent
2. Criminal record check
The police search their data for any past criminal records against the candidate’s name
If the police find a legit address and no past criminal records against the candidate, they (police) grant them (candidates) a Police Clearance Certificate.
What is a Police Clearance Certificate?
A Police Clearance Certificate (or PCC) is provided to the candidates after the completion of their police verification.
In India, a PCC confirms an individual’s residential address and that s/he wasn’t involved in any criminal activity as per local police records.
A candidate can obtain a police clearance certificate for job from the local police authorities. Here’s what a PCC by Mumbai police looks like:
P.S. : Only people who are 18 and above can issue a PCC.
Why is a Police Verification Certificate important for job?
Every bad hire is capable of causing a significant amount of damage to an organisation and its reputation. Hence, when it comes to hiring, organisations appoint background verification vendors to identify any red flags related to their prospective employees.
Past criminal record against any candidate is a major red flag. As, they are capable of repeating the same in future and hence, are a potential threat to your organisation. Moreover, an employee’s bad image can directly affect your company’s reputation. Plus, they can also be a bad influence on your other employees.
Hence, organisations conduct police verification to spot records like:
- Misdemeanour: An offence for which a sentence of imprisonment ranges between 15 days and one year
- Felony: An offence for which a sentence of imprisonment is in excess of one year
- Violation: A non-criminal offence for which a sentence of imprisonment is equal to or less than 15 days
By eliminating the ones with an adverse police verification report, organisations can avoid an adverse hire.
What is the turnaround time to receive a police clearance certificate after the application?
The usual turnaround time for your candidate to receive a PCC is 15-20 days. But, this might change as per the process and other criteria.
Why combine Police Background Verification and Court Records Check?
Police Verification only helps identify an individual’s criminal activity in a specific area/locality. But, what if the individual has been involved in an adverse case at some other place within the country?
Here, court record checks save us!
By running a PAN India court record check, you can spot any criminal record against the individual, no matter where s/he has committed it. Combining both police and court record verification gives your organisation a 360 degree protection from candidates with criminal history.
Plus, police verification surfaces recent records while court record go way back. No matter how old a legal case is, a court record check will surface it (unless an individual gets its resolved with the help of an attorney).
At IDfy, we run online police verification for employees, along with a court and tribunal records check. We check through all FIR, court, and tribunal databases to verify if a candidate has a criminal background. And help businesses make better informed hiring decisions.
We rest this blog here. Hope it answered your questions. If you wish to know more, do write to us at shivani@idfy.com