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Occupational Medicine 2006 56(3):218; doi:10.1093/occmed/kqj012
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© The Author 2006. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Occupational Medicine. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

BOOK REVIEW

An HR Guide to Workplace Fraud and Criminal Behaviour. Michael J. Comer and Timothy E. Stevens. Published by Gower Publishing Ltd, 2004. ISBN 0-566-0855-0. £85.


Figure 1
It is estimated that £3 billion is lost from the social security budget to fraud in the UK each year [1]. Most occupational physicians have experience of patients with illness deception (malingering or factitious disorder) but few have had training in its detection or in the handling of the implications of such behaviour. The target audience for this book would appear to be all directors and managers but particularly those with an interest in human resources and financial governance. The authors have written other publications about corporate fraud and are also directors of an anti-fraud consultancy called Cobasco Group Limited. The publishers have other titles on fraud and bullying in the workplace.

The book consists of 459 pages divided into four parts: (i) an overview of the types of deception used by existing or potential employees such as fraudulent credentials or concealment of wrong doings; (ii) counter-measures to fraud such as how to interview suspected fraudsters; (iii) human resource procedures to reduce fraud such as careful pre-employment screening, warning statements and audits and (iv) how to give evidence in court.

The text is readable and makes frequent use of tables as well as humour, sometimes to the point of flippancy.

The book is lacking in scientific facts but full of anecdotes and assertions without supportive evidence such as ‘70% of all job applications contain misleading information’ and ‘eye movements change with lying’—apparently we look to the right when lying. There is little of medical relevance in the book other than general principles that a fraudster (malingerer) will succeed because he/she will have the time and incentive to pay attention to detail whereas the honest manager will not. Advice is given to pay particular attention to inconsistencies in what the candidate is saying and to incongruencies of emotion.

In the clinical context, indicators of deception include vagueness in the history, a time delay between the alleged accident and the onset of symptoms, sub-optimal effort during examination, abnormal illness behaviour and a facility to easily take umbrage or to become angry. Deception is likely to occur in an occupational health context when there is an incentive for the patient to deceive, such as to avoid work or because of difficulties at work, or for financial gain such as a state benefit, an early pension or injury award.

In summary, I would say that this book is good value for HR managers but of limited value to occupational physicians.

Rating

{star}{star} (Reference only)

C. J. M. Poole

References

  1. Halligan PW, Bass C, Oakley DA, eds. Malingering and Illness Deception. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003.


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This Article
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