HR to probe your fitness

At the start of this year, Ireland's Financial Regulator introduced a so-called 'fitness and probity' regime in a bid to ensure senior individuals in the sector are competent and honest.

Legal experts say the new regime, which governs the recruitment of directors and senior managers in the Irish financial sector, could have far-reaching implications for the hiring process in the industry.

From now on, financial firms have explicit responsibility for ensuring the people they hire are fit and proper for senior positions, according to law firm Matheson Ormsby Prentice.

Job candidates for a range of positions within financial organisations fall within the new rules,

including chief executives, directors, executive-level managers, partners and compliance officers.

Applicants for such positions now have to fill out an Individual

Questionnaire (IQ), giving details of their qualifications and relevant

experience and disclosing any financial and tax offences, previous bankruptcy and any disciplinary action by a professional body. Anyone convicted of tax offences on indictment - in the circuit or a higher court - will be banned from holding a position.

Financial firms will also have to check the responses in the IQ thoroughly to ensure the details are accurate. This can take the form of getting references from former employers and confirming the validity of professional qualifications and professional association memberships.

"The biggest issue for the employer is verification of the information in the IQ form," says Bryan Dunne, partner in the employment, pensions and benefits group at Matheson Ormsby Prentice. "When issues arise, such as financial crime or bankruptcy, the employer has to investigate that. That's the real difficulty."

Most of the background checks and verification of qualifications and

experience will be the responsibility of the HR manager, Dunne adds.

HR managers may have to check with the Revenue Commissioners to ensure the candidate has not defaulted on tax in the past.

"If there are a lot of issues with the candidate, an HR manager could spend three to four days just digging around for information on the person," he says. "The recruitment process can already take between two and three months, though I've seen the process run for up to a year for senior people."