Spouse has a job offer but is worried about background check turning up that he lied about being fired from previous job

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You guys, OP says he's been telling the new company that he still works at the old company. It doesn't matter if the dates match up because he has told them that he's still employed.

Yeah. That's bad. Maybe an HR assistant will assume April is close to June and ignore it. But if someone more discerning saw that--I would wonder why the candidate was lying consistently and repeatedly. He should have come clean from the beginning-the company that fired him probably wouldn't have wanted to raise a fuss given the circumstances and wouldn't have bad mouthed him.

[Anonymous]

Depends how desirable the skills of your husband are and whether they're willing to take a risk on him given the time they spend on the hiring process. I would assume most companies would rescind because it's a big red flag to lie about being employed when you're not. But maybe the company is big enough or desperate enough that they won't notice or won't care.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t have an answer, but I hope things work it for your husband.

It makes me mad that every type of firing is viewed as bad when people sometimes get fired because of a crazy boss or because they didn’t want to go against their values.

No one ever gives the company a bad mark yet the employee has to bear the bad impression of any firing.

There's no bad mark.

If OP didn't lie about his employment, there'd be no problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t have an answer, but I hope things work it for your husband.

It makes me mad that every type of firing is viewed as bad when people sometimes get fired because of a crazy boss or because they didn’t want to go against their values.

No one ever gives the company a bad mark yet the employee has to bear the bad impression of any firing.

There's no bad mark.

If OP didn't lie about his employment, there'd be no problem.

+1 This. Sometimes people leave employments off their resume if it was a short enough period of time. Better to show a gap in employment than a firing if it's only a few months. Sometimes there's a good reason they parted company, and the OP's husband's reason is justifiable. But to outright lie about being employed for an interview cycle? That's messed up and dumb because a lot of reference checks just verify dates of employment and whether or not the person left on good terms or not (which if the company doesn't want to risk a lawsuit, they sometimes gloss over terms of departures). I don't see how he could explain what he did at this point--I guess he could just take his chances and hope they don't notice.

[Anonymous]

Most companies won't risk a lawsuit over disclosing more than employment dates

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most companies won't risk a lawsuit over disclosing more than employment dates

Yes, and he lied about them. Bad idea. Most HR people wouldn't ignore that.

[Anonymous]

OP, did he list incorrect dates of employment on his resume or otherwise falsify his employment history such that the dates he provided will not line up with the dates HR will provide? If so, that is an issue and will likely result in the offer being rescinded. If he did not falsify or misrepresent anything, then he may be ok.

[Anonymous]

He was still being paid by the company until the end of May which is probably after the started interviewing with the company.

I agree with leaving it.


How often / how much did he reference still being at the old company?

[Anonymous]

I've been called to verify my own self-employment (was not incorporated). One place asked me to prove it with a tax return Schedule C. Another did not. Because it would have been work for them.

One background checker delayed my hire for 2 weeks because they said a certain employer did not verify my employment. I told them I never claimed to have worked at that employer ever. And they would not find it on any documents I provided to anyone because I had never worked there. Then they asked me to fax them some document to conclude their investigation.

All of my major employers are verified through a single massive employment verification service. The Fed Govt uses it. My Fortune 500 company dates are inaccurate (3 mo earlier start date because my internship the summer before provided tacked on pension creditable service). That F500 doesn't do no rehire statements. Just date verification only. No exceptions. And ironically by policy, the dates they provide don't match my true butt in seat dates.

Long story short. Nobody knows how this will go down. I wouldn't withdraw. But I wouldn't have told any lies in an interview either. I had a bad boss once who accused me of lying in my interview and I told her what I had said verbatim (about prior work experience). She decided I didn't have enough after I was a few months into the job. Honestly it was just a good interview. She heard what she wanted to hear. Not what I said.

[Anonymous]

50/50 whether it turns up. FWIW, I've gotten fired from jobs a few times and still got nice letters of reference and they didn't say to future employers I was fired.

Also, some places don't actually ask why a person left - they just verify employment dates - that's where your DH may run into a problem.

[Anonymous]

I have lied about still being employed or just putting the dates as "present" or current employer.

Recruiters and companies will discriminate based on being unemployed.

If someone asks, I just say it was an oversight. I forgot to change it on my LinkedIn profile.

[Anonymous]

Any update, OP? Hope your DH has started his new job!

[Anonymous]

I was fired from my last job and when I was going through the interview process for my current job I just kept saying I was laid off. If someone had asked me point blank I would've said I was fired, but they didn't. If necessary I could've found ways to dance around it. I got severance from the old company and I qualified for unemployment.

I also had some nerves about this but they wound up never even calling my former employer lol. But when I had anxiety about it I calmed myself down this way: Look. I am no longer my former employer's problem. It was not a good fit, I have evidence that indicates it was not a good fit (as opposed to being bad at my job - I was already looking when I got fired, I got severance, etc.) and even if it wasn't, if I'm not their problem, that would be insane to prevent me from getting a new job. I didn't steal from them or kill someone on the job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have lied about still being employed or just putting the dates as "present" or current employer.

Recruiters and companies will discriminate based on being unemployed.

If someone asks, I just say it was an oversight. I forgot to change it on my LinkedIn profile.

Just posted and I didn't lie on my resume when I was unemployed. Actually people really didn't notice. Like I got to the third round of interviews at my current job and the hiring manager was just like "Wait, remind me, are you currently working or no?" and I started sweating but she was like "Don't care, just want to talk start date."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:He was still being paid by the company until the end of May which is probably after the started interviewing with the company.

I agree with leaving it.


How often / how much did he reference still being at the old company?

The first part was my thought reading this. He probably applied in April and said X date to present which was true when he applied, he doesn't have an obligation to update them in his employment status.