Skip-hire company duped into hiring 'rogue waste collector'
Recruitment Grapevine reports that a skip hire company was duped into hiring a 'rogue waste collector' when it failed to conduct a proper background check.
According to the Environment Agency, Robert Walker, who owned and operated Bob's Skips in Basildon, Essex, the company did not check the legitimacy of a haulier who claimed to be working for a genuine haulage company. The driver did not work for the company and was using fake waste transfer notes. The rogue driver simply took the rubbish and dumped it at four different locations before vanishing without a trace - as, due to the "inaccurate nature of the paperwork", it was not possible to trace the lorry or the driver.
This left Walker with a hefty penalty. After he pleaded guilty to failing to comply with the duty of care imposed by the Environmental Protection Act, he was fined £10,000, ordered to pay £8,300 towards the costs of the clean-up of the fly-tipped rubbish, and £6,532 in additional costs. There was also a £30 victim surcharge.
Applicants lying about their qualifications and backgrounds are quite commonplace, meaning the onus is on recruiters to ensure candidates really are as good as they say they are. Research by Core-Asset Verify has found an increase in the number of applicants either lying or withholding vital information from their CVs. Nearly 20% of applicants outright failed background checks because of major CV lies, which has increased from 10% in 2015.
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