Firms are protected against new recruits who lie on their CVs - financial expert

Businesses can withdraw a job offer from a successful applicant who has lied on their CV, thanks to specific protections – according to a leading financial expert.

Mike Jordan, founder of Jordan Financial Management, was speaking after controversial accusations emerged that Chancellor Rachel Reeves had allegedly exaggerated her previous economic experience.

Mike (pictured) said: “The controversy over the Chancellor has put the idea of exaggerating your past experiences into the headlines, and CV lies are more common than you might think.

“A job applicant might have embellished a previous role to make it sound more senior than it was or to inflate their experience, or they may have told an outright lie about how long they were employed by a previous employer to disguise a gap between jobs.

“The question is, if you have offered someone a job and then discover they have been untruthful on their CV, where do you then stand?”

In recent years, recruitment has been key to the Sutton Coldfield-based business, which has seen staff numbers grow and turnover double since adopting a one-to-one staff development programme.

Mike always urges employers to verify a successful job applicant’s CV, particularly their qualifications and previous employment history.

However, he said that while these normal checks may fail to illuminate a lie right away, there are protections in place for employers who have been deceived.

Mike said: “The key thing is how you communicate the job offer to a successful candidate. If a lie comes to light after a job offer has been accepted, you’ll be able to withdraw that offer if you made it conditional on verification of qualifications and work experience.

“Firms don’t always do this, and only make job offers conditional on suitable references. You should always ensure you include verification of CV details as one of your conditions of a job offer. Then you can rely on breach of that condition to withdraw the offer.”

And even if you didn’t make your job offer conditional on these bases, Mike advises you should still be able to revoke the offer when you discover the applicant doesn’t have the relevant qualifications and experiences.

He said: “This is because you can argue there’s been a misrepresentation by them – they made an inaccurate statement of fact which induced you to enter into the employment contract with them. 

“For misrepresentation, you have the right to set the contract aside as it becomes voidable.”

In making dishonest claims on their CV, the job applicant may also have committed the criminal offence of fraud by false representation under the 2006 Fraud Act, but that’s a matter for the police should you decide to report it.

Mike said: “It’s not unusual for people to embellish their CVs, but it’s important for businesses to protect themselves at the same time.

“As someone who is proud of building a team and hiring brilliant employees, it’s something I’m very conscious of.”