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Employment Law: Avoiding some recruitment pitfalls (Part 1)

Job-hunters always want to present their qualifications and past experience with as positive a gloss as possible. But when getting a job becomes more difficult, candidates perhaps feel more pressure to turn to outright deception.

Statistics from the Risk Advisory Group indicate that almost two-thirds of CVs now contain lies or inaccuracies. Women in their early 30s are, apparently, the worst offenders, with 77 percent of their CVs containing some form of inaccuracy. Even among the most honest group, men in their early 20s, half of CVs are estimated to contain discrepancies.

The most common distortions include bogus or exaggerated qualifications, changing the dates of employment to hide career gaps and exaggerating the pay received in a previous job. But there are also instances of applicants covering up criminal convictions, fraud against their previous employer and even terrorist links.

While most employers are likely to satisfy themselves about an employee’s application by checking his or her most recent employment history, I advise companies to go to greater lengths.

It is relatively easy for firms to take up candidates’ references and to check on academic qualifications. If these reveal any discrepancies with the candidate’s CV claims, wider and more detailed investigations should be made.

If a job offer is made on the basis of details contained in a CV that the employer believes to be correct, he or she is legally entitled to withdraw the offer if it is later discovered that the CV contains false information.

Moreover, many organizations use the CV as a personal-history form and the basis for subsequent personnel records. Employees are required to tell the truth under the terms of their employment contract. Lies on a CV can therefore be a reason for dismissal.

Research by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development reveals that a quarter of UK employers withdrew at least one job offer last year after discovering that someone had lied or otherwise misrepresented his or her application. And nearly as many (23 percent) dismissed someone who was already in post, for the same offence.

Read Part 2.

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Notes to Editors

Pearson Hinchliffe Commercial Law is a commercial law practice providing a range of legal services to business and commercial clients in Manchester, Oldham and across the North West. The firm's specialities include Company & Commercial, Employment Law, Commercial Litigation and Commercial Property matters.

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