Job market stresses ethics among staff and companies

College graduates at a job fair in Nanjing, capital of East China's Jiangsu province, June 5, 2016 [Photo/VCG]

Experts have called on companies and employees to strengthen integrity management－the emerging area that advises individuals and corporations on how to apply the highest ethical standards to every aspect of their business－in relation to China's job market.

They also urged governments to beef up relevant laws and regulations in relation to hiring in the job market.

"Integrity at work is even more important where you have potentially explosive information linked to the jobs," said Tian Yongpo, head of human resources and market research in the Chinese Academy of Personnel Science.

Tian－speaking at a forum on integrity at work, the first of its kind in the country－also pointed out that the mobility of the Chinese labor force was on the gradual increase from 2010 to 2014.

He added that the total number of China's floating migrant population rose by 12.65 percent to 253 million from 221 million during the five year period.

"Huge information about jobs has been accumulated during the process," Tian said at the forum held by the People's Daily online platform people.com.cn in Beijing on Wednesday.

A survey whose results were released at the forum examined dishonest behavior by employees in companies.

The survey was carried out by 17zhiliao.com－a website that helps companies check background information of potential employees－between March 10 and April 10. It collected more than 6,000 responses from individuals and 3,000 responses from human resources managers.

More than half of the respondents to the survey believed dishonest behavior had resulted in a loss to companies and individuals.

Guo Wenlong, the deputy head for Labor Law Studies of Shanghai Law Society, said the "call for a law is natural since one could not get all the information he needs to (determine if a person in focus is credible or not)".

Guo went on to mention authority figures should improve laws and regulations on the non-competition agreement in the labor law, as the occasional employee has operated in a grey area to avoid company requirements and restrictions.

HR managers listed the worst behaviors as missing job interviews, slacking off at work and malicious job-hopping where employees took company secrets.

Individual respondents considered overstating work performance and experience and falsifying education background as the main dishonest behavior.

To avoid hiring dishonest candidates, 97 percent of HR managers believed that it was necessary to investigate job seekers' information during the early stage of recruitment.

More than 90 percent of individuals supported background checks, but most of them believed that companies should seek their approval before undertaking their inquiries.

Li Aijun, a law professor at the China University of Political Science and Law, warned that it may be illegal to collect sickness records, property information, or criminal records about a person beyond a certain period.