What would you do? You find out a valuable employee lied to get hired
June 16, 2008 by Sam NarisiPosted in: Assessing the right candidate, Firing, Hiring, In This Week's E-Newsletter, Latest News & Views
All recruiters do their best to make sure everything candidates tell them is accurate. What about someone who lied to get the job, but ended being one of your company’s top performers?
Consider this scenario: You hire an employee. After a few months, you find out he dropped out of college — even though his resume said he’s graduated.
But in his first few months, he ended up being one of the top performers in his department.
Should he be fired for lying? Or does his value to the company outweigh the discrepancy?
What would you do in this situation? Let us know by dropping us a comment.
Tags: college, lies, resumes, top performer
June 16th, 2008 at 8:37 am
Most likely we would take disciplinary action, but it might not be termination.
June 16th, 2008 at 9:55 am
Great posting. We have a ton of articles related to resume lies, fraud and general employment screening. These are found at our educational site, http://university.employeescreen.com
June 16th, 2008 at 11:18 am
This is a common problem in business. Talented people who don’t have a degree. It may be more ego than anything. I say pull the person into your office, plop down the resume and ask why. Talent is important. This is not a termination offence. But it must be addressed.
June 16th, 2008 at 1:15 pm
For us, falsification of the application is grounds for termination, but we do very extensive background checks to make sure it doesn’t come to that in the first place. Not only do we look for criminal convictions, but verification of past employment and education.
June 17th, 2008 at 2:39 pm
It might be easy to say “if he is a top performer - what harm was done”, but what if the “little white lie” was about a criminal background - does the fact that he/she is a top performer cause that lie not to be important? If the education is an absolute requirement for the job, then there is a potential discriminatory issue if you are holding some employees/applicants to a standard and not others. Just one more reason why reference checks, criminal background, past employment and educational history checks are a good idea.
June 20th, 2008 at 11:33 am
Well, a degree do not measure how well you will perform on a job, just that you have higher education and certification of a specific level of information. The candidate should not lie on the job application to get the job, even though they may be more than qualified for the position but do not have a specific requirement of credentials. The company should value what the employee is contributing and how he is performing. If his pay was based on the fact that he had a degree, the compensation level maybe should be adjusted!
June 20th, 2008 at 11:56 am
This is a termiation offense and he should terminated immediately. Hard to imagine that anyone, within a few months of being hired is a considered a top performer, enough to overlook this. I’ve know of an employee at major pharma company for over 20 years that was found to have lied about his degree qualifications that was terminated. Pre-employment background checks are completely necessary in todays workplace.
June 20th, 2008 at 12:16 pm
This problem came up for me just this week. It was discovered that a great employee who had been working for us for almost a year falsified his application to conceal he had been fired by another employer for stealing (and was convicted of a felony as a result). He covered up this time frame in his application by “extending” the duration he said he worked for the employer before that one. When looking over his reference check materials to see why this was not caught, it was obvious to me the supervisor did a poor job of checking his previous work experience. When it all came to light, we stuck by our policy to discharge the employee based on the infraction of falsifiying records. And the supervisor who failed to conduct an appropriate reference check received a reprimand and additional training in the reference checking process.
June 20th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
What if you don’t terminate the employee and later find out an “under performer” also lied, same lie, and you use this for temination?
June 20th, 2008 at 12:31 pm
The problem in today’s business world is the degree “requirement”. Most resume’s are tossed if they don’t list a degree and that person could have been the “top performer” the business was hoping for. We had employees with degrees but were not able to perform the job and others who didn’t finish college for “sufficient reasons” but who were knowledgable and motivated and perfomed at top level. Many who are in this situation know they will not be hired without “the degree” and feel the need to lie. I do not agree with lying on any application but if the position to be filled can be performed by a knowledgable, experienced person without a degree than the degree should not be a “requirement”. In the past even persons without high school diplomas went on to become some of the most successful business people in the world.
June 20th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
Christi commented that it is a common problem and commented that the problem may be more ego than anything… I agree that it’s a common problem but I don’t agree that applicant “ego” is what’s behind this type of behavior. Actually, I think the applicant is responding to a common mistake employers make - relying too heavily on the education portion of the resume. Don’t get me wrong, education is very important but if it’s too important (as it often is), applicants know that regardless of a proven work history, they are likely to take a back seat to that recent college grad with no work history. Employers often rule out applicants without a degree even before the interview and applicants know this. So, why is this happening? Well, the best I can figure is that many years ago it was uncommon to have a college degree and having one signified something really extraordinary. But, in today’s world a college degree can mean many things and does not necessarily imply anything extraordinary at all. It’s not uncommon for today’s kids to extend their “childhood” by going to college at mom and pop’s expense. They skate by, get a degree and with it comes “instant respect” and the job offer. For the hard working applicant who has been working and slowly paying their own way through college this can be very disheartening. Maybe we as employers need to examine our hiring practices when attempting to determine why such an extraordinary employee would lie about having a degree when they do everything else so wonderfully? Maybe we need to ask ourselves a few questions before terminating that employee. Are we considering work history as well as education? Are we boasting about our college degrees instead of our exceptional employees? Are we excluding extraordinary applicants by running help wanted ads requiring a degree for work that can be done without one? Do we have an “ego” problem?
June 20th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
the key here is to be consistent, what if another employee came on same situation and was not a top performer? Inconsistencies is what leads to court. If a degree is part of the requirements for the job and clearly defined on the job description then unfortunately the correct thing would be to terminate the employee. Our applicants sign a document along with the application stating that the information supplied on the application and resume is accurate to the best of their knowlegde and if any misinformaiton, omission or falsification mya lead to disqualification or termination. The main things is to complete a thorough background check to address this concerns prior hire date.
June 20th, 2008 at 1:06 pm
Terminate the person. If they lied on the application…..chances are they’re going to do it again while employed.
June 20th, 2008 at 1:09 pm
What if he weren’t a top-performer? Would you terminate then? It would be an easy termination in that scenario. Since he’s a top performer, it makes the decision more difficult.
Employers need to maintain consistency, with both top- and under-performing employees. It’s a tough decision, however based on my company’s policies, I would terminate. If he lied about something from the very beginning, i.e. on his application, then he could be lying about other things as well.
June 20th, 2008 at 1:15 pm
It’s not illegal to lie on your resume so the fact that he did is a moot point. The question is…did he lie on the application which IS often a legal document. And if he did, why didn’t it come up in the background check?
June 20th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
I work for a bank and in the banking world, that is considered to be falsification of a document which is grounds for immediate termination. I also think that it is an integrity issue. How can you continue someones employment knowing that they knowingly lied about about their degree? It should not matter that he is a top performer, his achievements are based on a lie.
June 20th, 2008 at 1:51 pm
Remember, what you do for one person, must be done in the future for another. You set a precedent whatever it is that you decide to do.
June 20th, 2008 at 2:15 pm
So if he/she was an average performer, they would be terminated?
June 20th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
I believe that we as HR professionals have created this situation. I have been troubled by this for some time. I think that the reason someone would lie is perhaps they felt that they would automatically be excluded from the hiring process without a degree. There are people who are very capable that could fill a number of the jobs we offer but we are automatically listing a degree as a preselection criteria and not looking carefully at the qualifications and background of the individual. Is it right to lie? Absolutely not!
I also do not believe that a degree is an absolute requirement in most of the jobs out there except perhaps for a nurse, doctor or lawyer. Unfortunately, an undergraduate degree is basically what the high school diploma was in the past. It is not valued, it is expected.
June 20th, 2008 at 2:20 pm
For legal purposes, you have to be consistent. If you terminate one person for lying, you have to terminate everyone for lying. Ask yourself if this employee is worth a $1 million law suit.
June 20th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
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June 20th, 2008 at 2:25 pm
The person should have never had to lie in the first place. Ive been interviewing for 30 years and I have found that too much emphasis has been placed on educational degrees. In most cases the person with the degree remembers little or nothing related to the clases he/ she has taken. Experience is the best indicator. However, a person with ten years experience is often overlooked because the degree requirement is used to limit the interview pool. This puts some applicants in a position of lying regarding their education in order to get an initial interview. Is it right, No. But would I terminate and excellent employee because of it, No.
June 20th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
For us lying on an employment application (a legal document) is a terminable offense. We do try very hard to do a thorough background check before hiring - sometimes little white lies slip through. But once uncovered, all deals are off.
Doesn’t matter that he turned out to be an outstanding employee. It’s the intention to deceive that is the larger issue - not so much the ‘little white lie’. If that lie comes so easily - then stealing (falsifying expense reports, as an example) would also be easy.
The consistency comes when you’ve fired everyone whom you discovered has lied on their employment application in order to get the job.
June 20th, 2008 at 3:08 pm
I believe job performance and jo position should not be considered when making a decision. The decision should rest with what is explicitly stated in the company’s Employee Handbook. If your handbook says lying “is grounds for immediate termination,” then you have to follow the book. Conversely, if your handbook says it’s “subject to disciplinary action and/or possible termination,” then you can be more flexible. One of the key dteminants is relevance to the company’s goals. This isn’t going to matter as much to an agency offering social services as it would a financial entity.
June 20th, 2008 at 3:15 pm
I think it depends on the nature of the lie. If a person lists degrees or licenses that are required by law to function in a position, then yes - absolutely. If it’s listing important positions or experience that is non-existent - I’d fire for that too. If it’s some minor resume padding so that they can get in the door to be seriously considered - maybe not. Talent, knowledge & potential cannot be judged by formal education. Our company doesn’t require degrees for this very reason. If the person is performing well, I would have a private meeting and indicate that I had discovered the lies and see what the response was. Is the person genuinely embarrassed? Contrite? Does s/he take personal responsibility or try to shrug it off? Probation of some sort might be in order, and s/he should know there is a trust issue now that will be hard to ignore. I’d weigh all the factors at my disposal and try not to be knee-jerk. Just because an action is “subject” to termination, it usually doesn’t mean that is the only course available.
June 20th, 2008 at 3:17 pm
I think that everyone is losing sight about what the issue is, which is lying about his degree. What type of performer he/she is is not relevent. In my opinion, I only think that this is an issue because the employee is a top performer. I think that the companies policy as with most companies policies will terminate the employment relationship if it is found out that they lied about a degree. I think that it is important to do a through background check on candidates to avoid this from happening, but at the same time, employees should not be lying about their degrees in the first place. I do think that sometimes experience is not emphasized enough and education is the front runner of a job requirement and that you can employ someone with all the educational experience but not enough hands-on job experience in which case, I do agree with Frances who said that some jobs should be reeevaluated to put more emphasis on experience rather than education.
June 20th, 2008 at 3:33 pm
This just happened to me. This person was so valuable to me and I depended on her so much. I had to let her go. I really suffered. Great perfomer or mediocre performer must be treated equally in this case. Performance should not factor in to the equation. You cannot compromise on honesty.
June 20th, 2008 at 3:37 pm
Nature of the lie . . . ? A lie is a lie! It’s the intention to deceive. Business relationships are/should be built on trust. Once you know a person has lied about something - you will always question everything they say and do.
June 20th, 2008 at 3:43 pm
So, Shelly, based on your response, you are saying that it is okay to lie, because it might not be a big lie? I think that is total ridiculous!! Just like Liz said, a lie is a lie, it doesn’t matter what the reason is, it is an integrity issue and you should be able to trust your employees.
June 20th, 2008 at 4:16 pm
Liz and Shayla are 100% correct. It’s not whether we as HR people have created a world too reliant on degrees. That’s just an excuse to justify why someone might have felt the need to lie. The point is that this person falsified his application. Our policy is to terminate, or more importantly not hire, in this circumstance. That’s why we don’t even make a contingent offer before the background check is complete.
June 20th, 2008 at 4:20 pm
I agree, too much is placed on having a degree to get the top paying jobs, but what if the person with more experience and proven work ability did a better job but could not get the job because o the degree requirements… You get a college idiot and pay them top money but can’t do the job! Your are forced to lie and then you still suffer!
June 20th, 2008 at 4:35 pm
Christine I am afraid to disagree…no one is ever “forced to lie” we all have choices and the individual made a choice to lie and perpetuate that lie. We are talking about adults here. If the “college idiot” can’t perform the job then he/she should be held accountable as well, and if higher education should not be used as a hiring standard then we, in HR, should work on getting that corrected, but stating that individuals are being “force to lie” and then they “suffer” sounds ridiculous to me. In my world that is being called being held accountable for your actions…and we all have choices.
June 20th, 2008 at 4:47 pm
In some job classifications earned degrees are important. But I do agree with everyone who says that maturity and experience should weigh heavily when searching for the ‘right’ candidate.
I remember something I heard in my early HR days - sometimes people are like themometers, degrees and no brains!
June 20th, 2008 at 5:01 pm
Look for the gift! You just found out is that your valuable employee is not valuable at all. Background checks regarding verification of employement and education before a job offer is made is a standard control process in our company. Falsification/misrepresentation is not a trivial matter and has the very real possibility of being repeated by whom you deem a valuable employee today. Keeping an such employee who cannot be trusted to act with integrity and truthfulness is an at risk behavior which may very well expose you and your company to violations of compliance regulatory agencies as well as claims of wrong doing.
June 20th, 2008 at 5:37 pm
It is an interesting issue. For me, falsification of an application is grounds for termination. The degree requirement is not the issue, the falsification is the issue.
June 20th, 2008 at 7:21 pm
I have been on both sides of this issue to some degree (no pun intended). I do not have a degree, but have a lot of quality experience and have applied for several positions that require a BA. I did not lie. I did not even pad my resume. I just make it look the best I can while still being truthful. I do have some education, an unacredited business college. I have been turned away for positions because I do not have a degree. I have been hired by employers who “require” a degree. I have been told by employers that they really want to hire me but because they had “been burned” in the past by employees that have lied about their abilities, that they require a degree no matter what. I am an accounting and HR professional. Though it would be difficult to terminate a star performer, I would terminate them for lying on their APPLICATION, because we require their attesting to the truthfulness of it. A lie is a lie. If a person can get away with one lie, what’s to stop them from lying again and again? I believe trust is a necessary quality in any employer/employee relationship.
July 7th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
The person lied. I don’t want to pay a million dollar law suit next year for a so-so performer because I was not consistent. Yes, you do have to do background checks. Look at your min quals. Is a degree necessary? We allow a year of similar professional experience to substitue for a year of college - 4 years of comparable experience equals a college degree. With online colleges available at reasonable costs, any true professional should be able to get a degree.
July 7th, 2008 at 6:00 pm
We stopped confirming degrees and few years ago and now we require each finalist to provide a (noncertified) transcript prior to our making the offer for a professional position. College and university HR depts. have been doing this for a long time and it works. We tell them about half-way through the recruitment process that we will need one, so they have plenty of time to produce one. It is common for most applicants to pull a transcript online from the college’s website; otherwise, it may take a week by mail. It has shown us that a surprising number of applicants lie on their resumes about degrees. When a finalist starts to whine about providing a transcript, it’s generally a bad sign, such as s/he didn’t graduate or s/he never paid the college the tuition.
Degrees may be overrated for some jobs, but that is still not an excuse for lying.
July 9th, 2008 at 3:08 pm
I don’t think termination is necessary in every situation, that is why “At Will’ employment is key. On the flip side, we as employers have to be careful about requiring degrees for certain position, this could have an adverse impact on a protected class of people and you can still end up in court. We need to have common sense and use good judgement.
I don’t agree with lying but I do understand why some do it especially if that is the only thing that separates them from what they perceive as a great opportunity.
August 19th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
You have to rely on moral law, that is, does it ‘feel’ wrong? It’s easy to say, “There is right, and there is wrong.” All major corporations have their written code of conduct. Each one is pretty much just a copy of the others and is a major dust bunny. The next time you walk into someone’s office, ask to see the company code of conduct. Good luck on finding someone who will produce it within five minutes. The moral law is much easier to find and digest. It resides in each of us. In this case, the person told a major lie. He jumped ahead in line over those that put in years of blood, sweat and tears to obtain a degree. What other deceptions are out there waiting to be unearthed?
August 29th, 2008 at 2:46 pm
What about the employee who lies on their expense report? I recently had an employee submit a false expense report but then went to management and told the truth. He has been a valuable and productive employee for one year. One manager wants him fired, the other thinks that since he came clean that another solution should be found. What do you think?
September 2nd, 2008 at 2:30 pm
Did the employee set out to falsify the expense report, or did he transpose numbers or make some other unintentional error? If it was a mistake, how long did he wait to come forward?
When I first traveled on company business with my current employer, I made a mistake on my expense report because I didn’t understand how airfare charges came across on our company credit cards. As soon as I figured it out, I let the assitant controller know and we took care of the discrepancy.
If it was an honest mistake and he came forward right away, I’d say let it go. However, if it was intentional or he was overpaid and held onto the money, that presents a major trust issue and I would certainly consider termination.
September 2nd, 2008 at 2:39 pm
I think that it would depend. Just like JVN said was it intentional? From what you said in your question it seems that it was intentional but then he felt guilty and came clean. Well, we have had that situation happen here where two people claimed mileage for the same places but they rode together so only one was eligible to claim the mileage. Needless to say neither of them still work here. It is an honesty issue above all else. I work for a bank so we take falsifaction very seriously. It would be the same thing as if someone stole some money from the company and then told you that they did it (we have had that happen as well) would you not fire him just because he came forward? My answer is yes, because that shows that you are dishonest.
September 2nd, 2008 at 2:59 pm
Shayla,
I’m curious why both of the two who claimed mileage are gone. Surely the one who actually drove was entitled to mileage? Was the driver in on the false claim of the person who rode with them?
September 2nd, 2008 at 3:13 pm
Long story short, one was claiming mileage for the same trips that the other one was claiming mileage for (they were also related). The problem was that one of the employees had not completed an expense report for 3 months and all employees are suppose to submit an expense report every month. After a very long investigation, it was found that the employee who submitted all of her expenses at one time only had about 2 inconsistences with who drove whereas the other employee had about 5 or 6. They interviewed other people who actually rode in the car with them and could day who drove. The one employee was terminated for dishonesty based on the evidence that was found during the investigation and the other one received a final warning but later quit. The reason that she only receive a final warning was because she could have clearly forgot since she submitted her expense report for 3 months at one time, but the other employee submitted hers on a monthly basis.
October 6th, 2008 at 3:55 pm
What does the employment application say about untrue applicant statements? If you have language that says that false, incomplete or misrepresented infomation will result in discharge, you better terminate or give up the option on similar cases to come as well as invite disparate treatment charges. If the policy statement says … IS CAUSE for discharge, then I would consider whether the information in question had a bearing on the hiring decision.
If a three year period of previous employment was overstated by four weeks, the correct information wouldn’t have changed the employment decsion, to say nothing of the plausibilty that the wrong information was given intentionally.
Less clear, is applicant for a warehouse worker’s position who said he/she graduated from college, only to find out later the person went only one year. If the job only required only H.S. or equivalent, MAYBE you could rationalize retaining the person.
Having said all that, the employee in question would have to be very valuable to assume the risks of retention.
October 8th, 2008 at 8:07 pm
While I agree that too much emphasis can be placed on degrees, this issue is clearly one of ethics and not of qualifications. Terminate — as said in other postings, if the employee lied about this, what else have they lied about? I wouldn’t want to send a message to anyone (even just the hiring manager and employee) that lying is at all acceptable.
We request degrees for a number of positions, but recognize that some people have what they need to succeed without a degree. I suspect that as the labor pool shrinks, more flexibility may be required.
And if a degree is generally required for the position, why hasn’t the employee pursued one? As someone who worked her way through school (and took seven years to get a degree), I know it is possible.