Having read the HR trade press I note that are an increasing number of illegal workers seeking casual and temporary work in the UK.

I was wondering what changes if any call centre recruiters have made to check the employment status and ID of applicants and what the percentage of 'turn aways' is.

I've been doing some housekeeping and I thought that this was too good a topic to be ignored. So, I've bumped it to the top for you.

Has anyone had any experience in this area?

John

This is not really an issue in the sectors I work in. Financial Services require full background credit checks anyway, so we do not fell we require any additional level of security.

Hi Dylan,

Firstly, I'm on holiday but there's web access at the hotel, so I'm checking up whilst T. fixes the hem on her trousers (if she will insist on wearing those ever-so-slightly long styles... ;-)

Your point is well made about the background checks, but though legislation might well require such checks, I don't think all companies are necessarily so diligent to actually perform the rigourous checks. Perhaps I'm wrong, but I suspect that it might just be too much hassle for some companies...

John

I deal with recruiting new members of staff into our Call Centre. We have recently been fully briefed on the documents we must see before we can employ someone. We can't actually set them up to be paid without seeing them! We are a large company, but I'm sure most call centres do carry out the same checks. If you need to know what you should be looking for, I can give you more details. Christine

John, I cannot speak for everyone and I have no doubt that some do not take the checks seriously. However, it is a bit more serious than checking references on a sales job - if they lied and are no good at sales you can sack them (some damage but not fatal) but if large amounts of customer monies are involved...

I have worked for a major internet bank and am at a major Protection & Investment provider and both organisations take the policy seriously, especially in 24 hour banking, where people have the ability to transfer huge sums of money around. The checks are important as are the disclosures, not so much in case you are criminally minded, but more to see if you could easily be leveraged / blackmailed into misconduct.