CVs are used by employees across the world to showcase their skills, experience and why they are the right candidate for the job. A survey by YouGov found that one in 10 Brits admit to lying on their CVs, with education and qualifications being the most likely parts of a CV to be embellished. In this article, we consider the seriousness of lying on CVs and the options available to employers who catch their employees out.

Supreme Court decision: R v. Andrewes

The seriousness of lying on a CV was recently considered in the Supreme Court case of R v. Andrewes. Mr Andrewes obtained a Chief Executive Officer position at St Margaret's Hospice and was later appointed as a non-executive director at Torbay NHS Care Trust and as Chair of the Royal Cornwall NHS Hospital Trust (both remunerated positions). It subsequently came to light that Mr Andrewes had lied about his qualifications and relevant experience in order to get these roles. Although Mr Andrewes regularly received positive appraisals, he would not have been employed had the true position been known to his employers. In 2017, Mr Andrewes pleaded guilty to obtaining a pecuniary advantage by deception and fraud, which resulted in him being sentenced to two years in prison. The Crown also sought a confiscation order (an order requiring a convicted defendant to pay the amount of his benefit from crime) and the judge agreed confiscation of £96,737.24, although Mr Andrewes' net earnings during the relevant time were more than £600,000. Mr Andrewes was successful in appealing the confiscation order in the Court of Appeal but this was overturned by the Supreme Court, which restored the confiscation order. It was therefore held that a confiscation can, and should, be used to strip the profit from fraudulently obtained employment.

What can employers do?

To help protect themselves against this sort of thing happening, employers should make reasonable efforts to properly vet candidates, by checking qualifications and requesting references. Any offers of employment and employment contracts should be conditional on satisfactory references and verification of qualifications.

If an employer finds out that an employee has lied on their CV, they may have a claim for breach of contract against the employee. All employment contracts contain an implied term of mutual trust and confidence between the employer and the employee. Lying on a CV can give rise to a repudiatory breach of this term, giving the employer a right to dismiss the employee in breach. Employers may also have a claim for misrepresentation against an employee who has lied on their CV.

As Mr Andrewes found out, there can also be criminal consequences for candidates who lie on their CVs. Lying on a CV could amount to fraud (e.g. under the Fraud Act 2006) or obtaining pecuniary advantage by deception (e.g. under the Theft Act 1968), with the former providing for a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. Although the police are unlikely to get involved unless the fraud or deception involves public funds or is sufficiently serious, this highlights the seriousness of embellishing CVs.

Takeaways

The seemingly harmless action of embellishing a CV can have far-reaching consequences for both employees and employers. Employers are advised to treat CVs with caution by checking academic certificates and obtaining references. On the other hand, employees should be wary of lying on their CVs as the repercussions can be vast, extending to custodial sentences in the most serious cases.