Nearly a fifth (19%) of employees say they have secretly juggled two competing jobs – known as polygamous working – and nearly a quarter (24%) believe it is “justifiable”, according to a survey for a fraud prevention service.
The research published by Cifas involved research among 2,000 employees across different sectors, including HR, engineering, finance and IT.
Almost a fifth (19%) of people said they or someone they know had covered employment gaps with bogus references, according to the survey carried out by Opinion Matters in July.
Those who were surveyed were working in companies employing at least 1,000 people with UK operations.
Mike Haley, CEO of Cifas, said: “Our Workplace Fraud Trends research doesn’t solely reflect individual choices. It reveals systemic blind spots to a whole range of rising threats impacting the workplace – from polygamous working to UK professionals using fraudulent reference houses.”
Keith Rosser, chairman of the Better Hiring Institute and director of Reed Screening, said: “Hiring fraud, driven by modern working styles and AI, is a quickly growing challenge for organisations.”
Cifas is encouraging employers to scrutinise people’s qualifications and work history thoroughly.