| Topic Name: |
Background Checks |
| Message Name: |
Lie About Anything Risk Termination |
| Date Posted: |
09/13/2000 |
| In Reply To: |
With regard to checking your criminal history, A release form must be signed by the applicant prior to his/her employment. This can be a request that is included in the application or a separate form with the agency?s name that would be conducting the background check. But my question to the editor is, it legal for an employee to be terminated for miss-statements on the application i.e., education after being employed for more than a year and being an exemplary employee while there? Scenario, an employee was up for their yearly review and was told that a background check was conducted on them which reveled that their education level was not as listed on the application, there for, the person had to be terminated. History, The person was employed with the company before background checks become mandatory and a release form to conduct a background check was not signed by the employee. Added note, the ad for the position only requested a H.S. education which the employee had with some collage courses and certifications. |
| Message: |
Thanks for the info. In response to your question, *most* companies have a policy that state (on the app or in the confidentiality agreeements, no compete clauses, etc.)that if you lie about anything on your app or resume you can be terminated (I am basing this on my experience as a recruiter in the High Tech and Acctg/Fin/Banking industries). So, it would stand to reason that in the situation that you reference, this could have been the case. However, I am not sure about the legality of a search if there is no "official" authorization. Maybe accepting the offer (in your scenario) was a case of implied consent to any new company policies; therefore, the company would be in its rights to terminate the employee despite work performance. I probably would have given the employee a reprimand instead of termination if their performance was truly above par. Nonetheless, I would assume that most people would expect the background check practice to be included as part of a company's pre- or post-employment practices. Whether or not that is a fair and reasonable expectation...that's a whole other issue.
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