I've got a scenario where Applicant A has listed "United Nations" as their employer on the resume. The truth is, the UN was actually involved in the project, and subcontracted or were partnered with another, much smaller, unrecognizable company, which is the company this person worked for directly. This person did interact with UN staff.
I've seen this same practice with consultants and subcontractors before - a small university project or funded partner (let's say a media lab) contracts someone for some work, and then they list the university as the client. Or, they were employees of the university, and later as consultants state they were a client. Or, the university and the united nations partnered, and the consultants lists both as past clients, even though they were employees at the time. Hopefully with this example you catch my point - there are number of combinations that might lead one to act or state an affiliation.
I see variations of this frequently when I check references, and I'm never totally sure what to think. I can see a few different ways it could be considered dishonest or legitimate.
As companies do more and more subcontracting, does anyone have an idea of hwo to handle this?
Is it appropriate for the prospective employee or the consultant to be doing this?
Should it always be whoever paid the cheque? Are there any rules or laws surrounding this? If you are in HR, is there a best practice?