Whilst a few little white lies might indeed help someone get a job and everyone tends to exaggerate on their CV, what happens when embellishing tips over into downright lies and fraud? How can an organisation ensure it does not fall foul of deliberate fraud and what are the potential ramifications of failing to sense-check CVs for honesty before making job offers? Sarah Rushton, Partner and head of Employment Law at law firm Buckles, reports.

Is it illegal to lie on a CV?

Even a small lie intended to make a CV more appealing, from a legal perspective, could amount to ‘fraud by false representation’. In addition, misrepresenting details on a CV might be serious enough to lead to an offence of ‘obtaining pecuniary advantage by deception’, with the culprit potentially guilty of criminal conduct.

It might not be surprising to learn that falsification of professional experience or personal information could be deemed a criminal offence. However, it could also be considered fraudulent to improve grades achieved, list qualifications not yet obtained, or even rounding-up previous salaries, which may be more of a surprise to job applicants. Should any such lies be discovered by an employer, they could be well within their rights to take disciplinary and/or legal action.

Section 2 of The Fraud Act 2006 states that a person is in breach if they dishonestly make a false representation, and by making the representation intends to make a gain for themself or another, or to cause loss to another.

Depending on the severity of the false claims, there may be grounds for an employer to terminate an employee’s contract of employment for reason of gross misconduct. In extreme cases, these matters could be pursued to Court, with the risk of a 10-year maximum custodial sentence and the employer potentially seeking to recover falsely accrued salaries.

The potential consequences for employers

Accidentally recruiting an individual without the qualifications or skills claimed, an organisation risks serious legal, financial and reputational damage. Depending on their role, if an employee is not actually qualified for the role, it could pose major health and safety risks.

In this situation, there is also a risk of negligence, for which the employer will be vicariously liable. It is also more likely the employer will be held liable for the employee’s negligent acts if it has undertaken insufficient due diligence throughout the recruitment process.

Appointing candidates lacking the necessary qualifications or experience may also cause the organisation to suffer reputational damage, particularly, if an underqualified employee puts members of the public in harm’s way.

Signs someone is misrepresenting themselves on their CV

On the CV, watch for vague descriptions of experience, using ambiguous phrases such as ‘familiar with’ or ‘involved in’ may be an indication of misrepresentation. Check if their CV details real achievements, supported by hard facts or an explanation.

People tend to oversell their skillset or expertise when lying, so if they are being too boastful, is it to display credibility or are there specific examples to back up their claims? Falsehoods will typically be accompanied by inconsistencies, such as job titles not proportionately reflecting the listed responsibilities.

A CV should provide a portfolio of relevant work and if there are gaps in a candidate’s experience or even conflicting evidence, then misrepresentation could be the reason.

Employers should not jump to conclusions, however, and should consider reasonable explanations for any gaps in a candidate’s experience, such as a period of Maternity Leave, to avoid any allegation of discrimination.

Checks before offering someone a job

Screening measures to fact-check applications during the selection process or after an interview could highlight doubts over the claims on a candidate’s CV. What screening can be undertaken?

LinkedIn – Most people will edit their CV to match the role they are applying for, so check dates, qualifications, experience, or employment history on their LinkedIn profile.

References – Contacting references helps assess an applicant’s fit for a role and tests their claims. A genuine candidate should happily consent. It’s important to make any job offer conditional upon receipt of satisfactory references and background checks.

Evidence – Although candidates should be able to provide evidence of any qualifications or exams passed, employers can check grades going back as far as A-levels, using specialist companies or by contacting listed schools, colleges, and universities.

Competency – Use competency-based questions in the interview to test a candidate’s particular skillset or their claimed experience. This can help ascertain how much they really understand and highlight suspicious gaps in their claims.

Gaps – Unexplained gaps in employment history might be concerning, but candidates should be allowed to explain gaps in their employment history. If a reasonable explanation is not offered, they might be trying to hide something more serious.

Data protection must be considered

A CV contains a candidate’s ‘personal data’ and therefore UK data protection regulations must be followed when collecting and processing the data. The candidate’s information should only be shared with the relevant managers and used for the purpose for which they were collected.

An employer must be able to establish genuine concerns that ‘fraud by false representation’ has been committed by a candidate before sharing the document with colleagues, or the organisation could be found in breach of data protection laws.

If an organisation has such concerns, it may pay to seek legal advice before sharing any information/allegations within the organisation to ensure they are not in breach.

In summary

The reputational damage and financial cost of CV fraud should be considered carefully throughout the recruitment process, particularly when many candidates believe in the ethos ‘fake it until you make it.’

Most individuals today have a considerable digital online footprint, making many claims on a CV easy to check, but if you don’t have the time to do so, employ the services of a background screening company to do the work, as hiring a fraud can have serious consequences.