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Why Verifying Gig Workers is Important

How familiar are you with the term ‘gig economy?’ In gig economies, flexible jobs are common as firms hire mainly freelancers as well as independent contractors rather than permanent employees. It had been predicted by CNN Business that 40 percent of workers will participate in the gig economy by 2020 and rightly so, the statistics speak for themselves.

Such an economy has workers like Swiggy delivery executives who deliver food, sharing economy participants- app cab drivers such as the ones who work for Uber, freelance digital artists, writers and designers and the like. The gig economy has been gaining more momentum with every passing day and the market is expected to grow further. Covid has also made gig employment mainstream.

However, in scenarios such as this, the need for background verification of all those who are a part of the gig economy, becomes all the more crucial. These employees work remotely and the employer might never even meet them face to face. The tenure of one’s contract varies and the individuals appointed also keep changing as per their availability. A rigorous and stringent background check is the only way to ascertain whether an employee is trustworthy or not. Freelancers have to stick to deadlines while delivering and making sure that the work has been allocated to an ideal worker who is dedicated and reliable. Since people associated with a gig economy are accustomed to flexible working hours and variable payrolls, some among them might tend to embellish their CVs because it is often easier to. They might add certain job roles that are not genuine in order to be hired by the firm. True depiction is difficult to glean when CVs contain information that is fake. It is important for companies to outsource the work of fraud mitigation to ISO 9001 & 27001 certified background check companies like Millow.

With the advent of the pandemic, most companies have been compelled to a remote form of working. Everyone has been working from home and this necessitates the need to carefully screen their backgrounds. A lot of sensitive data gets passed around in all companies and each employee has access to this. No firm can risk mishandling their data and so, a clean image of any potential worker is demanded. In such a set-up, workers have the liberty to use their personal laptops or machines for the job and so, they are not treated in the manner in which permanent employees of a firm are treated. The policies and the guidelines vaguely apply to them. Hence, making sure that your company’s data is protected is your absolute and legal responsibility.

  1. The procedure for verifying gig workers is similar to other forms of verification
  2. Academic details so as to ensure that the applicant hasn’t exaggerated credentials or acquired fake degrees
  3. criminal antecedents so as to look into the candidate’s past and make sure that he/she is devoid of any criminal record such as data theft, homicide or sexual harassment
  4. court records that will dig up findings that the police may not be able to ,
  5. address verification so that one knows that the candidate has a proper place of stay and makes them traceable in case of any wrong doing
  6. identity verification to ascertain that the candidate isn’t misrepresenting themselves
  7. past employment verification so that one is sure that an individual has professional ethics in place need to be resorted to.

 

Any individual that you recruit is also representing your company. He/ she needs to come across as someone who is trustworthy and upholds high standards of integrity. Checking their credentials is important for an umpteen number of reasons. A fraudulent worker can tarnish the image of a company in seconds. It just takes one social media post to do so and so, onboarding ideal candidates who have a sound mind are extremely important. Proper Due Diligence needs to be completed on the employees who are hired on a contractual basis.

We need to understand that the gig economy and the millennial economy are going to function side by side. As per Intuit, the gig workers represent 43 percent of the workforce in today’s day. Not verifying their backgrounds could have serious implications for any firm. Legal liabilities are something that any company would want to avoid especially if it involves wastage of time and resources.

Background verification qualifies or eliminates candidates based on substantive proof. Contemporary applicant tracking systems are automated and the element of anonymization is preserved here. Stringency and adherence to the compliance measures are instrumental when it comes to background verifications.

Millow is a reputable background check provider in India. We use our proprietary technology and rigorous processes to deliver BGV reports in the quickest period possible. If you need your employees, suppliers, business partners, loan applicants, or even yourself/profile verified do contact us on:
Email: info@millow.io
Contact: 011 41219183