{
  "registry_version": "1.0.0",
  "data": {
    "title": "Reference Check Discrepancy or Regulatory Ineligibility",
    "status": "active",
    "evidence_ids": [
      "evidence.hidden_workers_untapped_talent_hbs_accenture"
    ],
    "content": "# Reference Check Discrepancy or Regulatory Ineligibility\n\nA third-party check returns employment dates it could not verify, a degree the registrar has not confirmed, or a prior engagement flagged as a conflict of interest.\n\n### Structural Context\n- **Actor:** `candidate`\n- **Nature:** `rule`\n- **Removability:** `candidate`\n\n### Non-Inferences\n- An administrative mismatch in dates is distinct from fraudulent misrepresentation on a CV.",
    "aliases": [
      "M-021"
    ],
    "id": "mech.reference_check_discrepancy_or_regulatory_ineligibility",
    "type": "mechanism",
    "summary": "A third-party check returns employment dates it could not verify, a degree the registrar has not confirmed, or a prior engagement flagged as a conflict of interest.",
    "operates_at": [
      "bar.reference_background_verification"
    ],
    "emissions": [
      {
        "artifact": "obs.offer_rescinded_or_delayed_due_to_internal_freeze",
        "fidelity": "direct",
        "likelihood": "high",
        "evidence": [
          "evidence.hidden_workers_untapped_talent_hbs_accenture"
        ],
        "observed_at": [
          "post-offer"
        ]
      },
      {
        "artifact": "obs.generic_closer_alignment_rejection_template",
        "fidelity": "euphemism",
        "likelihood": "medium",
        "evidence": [
          "evidence.hidden_workers_untapped_talent_hbs_accenture"
        ],
        "observed_at": [
          "post-offer"
        ]
      }
    ],
    "facets": {
      "actor": "candidate",
      "nature": "rule",
      "visibility": "observable",
      "removability": "candidate"
    },
    "amplifies": [],
    "masks": [],
    "evidence_level": "proven",
    "honest_baseline": true,
    "specimens": [
      {
        "kind": "email",
        "label": "Where the check disagreed with the record",
        "lines": [
          {
            "text": "The background provider returned a mismatch on employment dates for one role: our vendor has March 2019 – June 2021, your application states January 2019 – August 2021.",
            "tell": true
          },
          {
            "text": "We are required to pause the offer while this is reconciled. If you have a payslip or contract covering those months, that resolves it.",
            "tell": false
          }
        ],
        "reading": "A resolvable discrepancy in a third-party record, with a named document that closes it. This is one of the few mechanisms with a direct, evidenced remedy."
      }
    ],
    "perspectives": [
      {
        "actor": "actor.candidate",
        "sees": "An offer placed on hold and a named field in dispute: dates on one role, a degree the registrar has not confirmed, a prior engagement flagged as a conflict.",
        "reads": "A third-party record and their own record disagree. Which one is wrong is answerable, and the document that answers it is either in hand or obtainable.",
        "does": "Produces the payslip, contract or transcript covering the disputed months, and from here on states dates as the payroll record holds them rather than as remembered."
      },
      {
        "actor": "actor.recruiter",
        "sees": "A vendor result marked for review, naming the field and the two values. The underlying records sit with the provider, not in the ATS.",
        "reads": "The start date is at risk until the file closes, and the result does not say which side of the mismatch is the error.",
        "does": "Pauses onboarding, asks the candidate for the document that reconciles the field, and keeps the wording to what the check returned."
      },
      {
        "actor": "actor.employer_policy",
        "sees": "The check result against the standard this layer wrote: which findings a document can reconcile, and which end the process regardless of explanation.",
        "reads": "One rule applied the same way to every hire is the defensible position. An exception made once is a precedent that has to be defended later.",
        "does": "Holds the offer until the file closes, and fixes how much of the reason may be stated — which is what determines whether the candidate is told the field or told nothing."
      }
    ],
    "non_inferences": [
      "An administrative mismatch in dates is distinct from fraudulent misrepresentation on a CV."
    ],
    "agency_zones": {
      "candidate": "medium",
      "recruiter": "low",
      "employer-policy": "high"
    }
  }
}