HUMAN RESOURCES SUPPORT

Our Human Resources Support program links huge cost saving pre-employment background checks with other Human Resources issues.  What an applicant fails to disclose may result in personal embarrassment and costly mistakes in hiring.  Mitchell Partners will help you avoid costly and embarrassing mistakes by vetting the information provided during the application and selection phases of the hiring process.

Employment History Confirmation – We examine an applicant’s history with their previous employers.  Areas of concentration include Attendance Verification, Substance Abuse History, Sexual Harassment and Workplace Human Rights Violations History, Performance Quality and Consistency.  During this process, often times gaps in employment and causes for previous terminations may become uncovered.  As part of our investigation, we will conduct interviews with past and present Supervisors and Co-Workers, as well as human resources personnel.

Financial History Verification – Poor Credit, bankruptcy or consumer proposal may affect an applicant’s suitability to have responsibilities related to the company’s finances.  Furthermore, well documented studies indicate that an employee with poor credit, who may be under pursuit by creditors, will not be able to fully and affectively concentrate on the tasks at hand and thus their employment longevity is called into question.

Educational History Verification – Educational institutions are contacted for verification of Degrees and Diplomas, grades, and course content.

Criminal Record Check – a candidate’s unknown criminal history may affect your company’s reputation and credibility.  A criminal record may also make an employee ineligible for an employment position requiring security clearances, national and international travel, and the requirement to be bonded.

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Firing someone can be a dangerous proposition!  An employee’s response to being notified of their employment being terminated can range from passive acceptance to extreme acts of violence.   70% of all workplace violence occurs during (hours or days leading up to) and after a termination of employment.   We conduct a pre and post termination surveillance, liaise with public authorities and private security contractors, provide covert/discreet presence during the exit interview, conduct a post termination consultation, and provide assistance with arranging additional surveillance and security.

Some key points to identify a potentially high risk employee

• Has there been any reported history of abusive verbalizations or violent tendencies?
• Is the employee known to not get along with others, hold grudges, lose their temper, or blame others for events related to them?
• High Risk Dismissals do their job?
• Has the employee been argumentative in the past?
• Is the employee known to not be able to accept criticism, correction, or advice?
  
  

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RED FLAG INDICATORS FOR POTENTIAL FRAUDULENT CLAIMS

Are there facts about an accident or injury that just don’t add up?  Does an employee seem to get sick or injured at the same time year after year?  Let Mitchell Partners Investigation Services help you reduce your annual disability insurance and WSIB Premiums.  For nearly three decades we have been helping businesses like yours minimize their exposure to questionable work related insurance claims.  Our surveillance and undercover investigators specialize in gathering the right information, collected and documented to withstand the scrutiny of the courts, to help you determine the validity of suspicious claims.  If you see Red Flags the next time you are required to approve a disability claim, contact Mitchell Partners Investigation Services and let us provide you with the real facts.

• No witnesses to the injury? Did it really happen? Did it happen at work?
• Minimal or No Evidence of an accident at the scene
• Employee has a history of claims or absenteeism
• Employee has a part time or family business
• Recurrent claims occur at a particular time of year when the claimant has an intense interest or hobby (golf, fishing, seasonal work with other employers)
• Employee is active in a sport that may cause similar injury.
• Employee has a family member at home who requires care.
• Disability is claimed shortly before rumoured or pending layoffs.
• Employee changes doctors (doctor shopping, double doctoring).
• Unclear or no firm return to work date.
  
  

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A well placed undercover operative either short or long term, can uncover:

• Problems such as employee theft, malingering, or excessively poor operational efficiency.
• Corporate espionage, drug trafficking, or employee bullying, harassment or stalking  
• Labour disruptions, sabotage, or information leaks circulating in the workplace. 
• Incompetence in your supervisory or management team.

Example:   We were once retained to determine the extent of pilferage of raw materials at the Canadian operation of a US based corporation.   The undercover operative was in place for only a matter of  a few weeks.  He determined the cause of the loss of raw materials, but also determined that the night shift was working at only about 20 % efficiency, with 8 out of 10 employees, including the shift supervisors, spending most of their time playing cards, and even playing horseshoes for extended periods at the back of the property.

Upon reading our reports, the US based parent company elected to cancel plans to build a second production facility to increase production.  They simply took control of the current facility, and increased production that more than met their needs, saving tens of millions of dollars.   

Mitchell Partners provides a wide range of undercover investigation services using a combination of specially trained investigators and modern technology to observe, record and report on unwanted activity and practices in your place of business.  The essence of a good undercover investigation, after careful assessment of the suspected problems, is the proper selection, deployment, and extraction of a covert operative at the operational level of the business.  

The investigator’s primary objective is to gain the trust of the suspected perpetrators and legally obtain effective evidence that will withstand scrutiny of the courts and defense counsel.  We also provide post investigation support, detailed reports and video, audio and photographic evidence.  We will work with your Human Resources and Executive Management teams to ensure that unwanted activities stop, preventative measures are implemented, and that offenders are successfully prosecuted in both the civil and criminal courts.  

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IMPROVE CYBERSECURITY BY DISCOVERING THE WEAK POINTS IN YOUR IT INFRASTRUCTURE

A Vulnerability Scan is an on demand service used to assess all networks connected devices such as servers, computers, switches, network devices, peripherals, applications and more for known weaknesses. These scanners are used to discover the weak points or gaps within an IT Infrastructure.

The scan will be conducted using a combination of discovery tools for thorough detection. The results are then utilized to create a more robust and accurate picture of the vulnerabilities. The vulnerability scan can be done onsite or remotely using a secure VPN tunnel to access the infrastructure at your convenience.   

We have partnered with Cyber Security experts with offices across Canada, who can assess your systems and protect you IT assets, in a prompt, efficient, and cost effective manner.

Common Applications:

• Reduce or eliminate the loss of Trade Secrets, Intellectual Property, Research and Development, Client Lists, Personnel Records
  
• Prevent the intrusion of Ransomware, which ties up your data and can cost millions in lost business, lost productivity, and Ransom Payments.
  Examples of recent Ransomware Intrusions are the payment of ransoms by Lifelabs Canada,  the City of Stratford, Ontario,  Jackson County, USA and countless others.
• Negotiation with Ransom Ware Criminals if you agree to pay ransom before your systems are protected.
  For instance, back in March 2018, the City of Atlanta was infected with the SamSam ransomware variant. Cybercriminals demanded a $52,000 ransom payment, however, Atlanta refused to pay and they had to spend $2.6 million to recover from the attack. So, since it has been proven that paying the ransom can be a lot cheaper than dealing with an attack’s aftermath, local governments are increasingly choosing to pay.
• Computer Abuse and Time Theft
  • Strategies to prevent security breaches by employees or outsiders.
  • Strategies to prevent theft or destruction of data, documents, and records, by disgruntled employees or hackers.
  • Detection of Employee Misuse of Computer Time
  • Prevention and Detection of Unauthorized Access
  • Prevention and Detection of Fraudulent Transactions and Inappropriate Usage
  • Traffic Monitoring, Historical Web Site Visits, Chat Line Usage
  • IP Address Tracing and E-Mail Tracking
  • Keystroke Recording

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GPS TRACKING, EFFICIENCES AND WORKPLACE FRAUD

Many companies provide Fleet GPS services to ensure tracking of loads, service personnel, and sales staff.   In addition, we provide GPS Tracking of  individual company owned smart phones, which prevents employees defeating GPS trackers known to be in their vehicles.

Fleet GPS Tracking

• We offer GPS vehicle tracking to combat unaccountable increases in fuel consumption and mileage expenditures.
• GPS tracking can be used to identify time theft, multiple employers serviced by your salaried employee, or unauthorized use of company vehicles for personal gain or profit.
• GPS tracking can monitor or locate critical shipments that may be targeted for theft.

Covert GPS Tracking 

• Hidden GPS trackers can be placed in specific company owned vehicles when employees are aware of Fleet Trackers, or where you simply have no need of constant fleet tracking.

GPS Tracking of Smart Phones

• Employees can defeat GPS Fleet tracking by simply leaving the vehicle parked at for instance, a construction site, a location where they are to provide repair services, or a clients site, and take an Uber to the nearest Sports Bar.

• With smart phone tracking, that cannot happen. Employees are provided with GPS Tracked smart phones to ensure accuracy when billing clients.  They must reply to texts within 5 minutes of being contacted by the company.  If they don’t, they must have a pretty good reason why not.  When they reply, their exact location is shown upon review of the data, which records positions every 5 minutes.

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“The term ‘occupational fraud’ may be defined as: ‘The use of one’s occupation for personal enrichment through the deliberate misuse or misapplication of the employing organization’s resources or assets.’ Occupational fraud schemes can be as simple as pilferage of company supplies or as complex as sophisticated financial statement frauds”

• In Canada workplace theft and fraud is estimated to cost between 3 and 6 Billion dollars per year. In the U.S., recent estimates state this figure to be nearly 100 Billion dollars annually and is the main reported cause of nearly 1/3 of bankruptcies which occur.
• The use of computers has increased overall loss values and decreased the time needed to accomplish complex frauds.
• Most instances of workplace theft and fraud are not reported beyond internal departments.
• Often times internal fraud and theft can go undetected for years. Statistics show that in many cases perpetrators are exposed because of a “tip”.
• In Canada the largest losses occur in the construction, manufacturing and insurance industries. Fraud crimes are most often committed by Accounting Departments or Upper Management.

Anti-Fraud controls have proven to have a measureable impact in controlling internal theft and fraud.  Mitchell Partners Investigation Services can assist you with “hardening the target” and reducing the risk of falling victim to dishonest managers and employees. 

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In today’s technologically advanced society we must be aware that electronic eavesdropping devices come in a variety of shapes, sizes and levels of sophistication.  Devices can range from simple voice activated recorders or transmitters that activate when an appliance or light switch is turned on, to sophisticated switchback systems that allow your telephone or computer to be used to broadcast signals through your telephone lines even when the telephone is not in use. 

Electronic scans, using modern state of the art equipment, are conducted to detect listening devices in offices, boardrooms, or residences.  For obvious reasons we cannot reveal or detail the technology in use by our experts.  What we can tell you is that our level of success is extremely high, our experts are recognized to be amongst the best in the country, and are in high demand. 

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