Dismissal for dishonesty in a job application

The Employment Tribunal (“ET”) held that the dismissal was fair, finding that the Respondent (the Home Office) had acted reasonably in finding that the Claimant had deliberately withheld the information.

It suggested it was reasonable to expect job applicants to understand what was being asked of them in the application form when asked to list “employment history”. However, the Claimant argued that this was not obvious, and he had not, in fact, deceived anyone -instead, he had not provided information that had not been sought.

He appealed to the Employment Appeal Tribunal (“the EAT”) on this basis, but they upheld the initial decision- that the dismissal was fair. It held that the employer was entitled to view the omission as a serious integrity issue warranting dismissal.

The EAT noted that the tribunal had correctly considered whether the Respondent’s expectations were reasonable and concluded that they were, particularly given the nature of the role. A position within the Border Force carries a significant responsibility where integrity is a key requirement. Working within this area would involve being given enforcement powers, the use of which would require discretion and judgement in important situations. Therefore, they found that the need for trust and transparency in such roles was a key factor in justifying the dismissal and that the expectation for full disclosure, in this case, was not arbitrary but consistent with broader recruitment practices in regulated and high-trust environments.

What can we take from this?

Whilst we need to remember that all cases are fact-specific, there are some useful points to take from this case.

The starting point is probably that job applicants are under no general obligation to volunteer information which is not requested. You must therefore be proactive in explaining what information you require- if in doubt, spell it out! Ask for full employment history including any gaps and the reasons why.

Be thorough in your pre-employment checks and clear about your policies on revocation of offers.

Applications that lack certain information should be picked up on and questions asked at the interview stage (or sent back for proper completion). This will help you to assess what is really going on and help to defend any later accusation that the information could not have been important as you did not request it and/or you did not notice the gaps.

Many organisations will be regulated in respect of recruitment so ensure that you follow guidelines closely, especially in the education sector.

Finally, there may be some situations in which an applicant is wary about providing information (e.g. for mental health or other reasons) so do proceed with caution and be careful not to refuse an application on what could turn out to be a discriminatory basis.