Potentially illegal action

[Spartus]

What is the name of your state?i was recently fired from my position with a previous employer in retail sales. After speaking with my dept. head he said my preformace was exemplary (not reason for firing) and that he would give a good refrence and also say i quit and was not fired. I applied for a new job in similar sales position with another company and because of the position i was in a was forced to mention my previous experience in order to get the position and I gave my dept. heads number for their refrence. However they decided to hire me on the spot before making any calls, but in the paper work they asked if i had been fired within the past 3 years which i answered no. It was a standard application form which required listing of previous positions and a signiture at the end by myself.

I have already been through a diversion program where i agreed to do community service for an offence rather than get charged, recieve a criminal record, and be unable to become an engineer (i am in school currently). I am curious if my new employer discovered that i had in fact been fired where i stated no would they then be in a position to press charges for fraud or something along that degree. Fear of being fired is non existant since i can continue my job search regardless and if i lose the job i wouldnt have had one anyways. My ONLY fear is being charged. That being said is it a possibility, and if so, what is the likelyhood it would happen considering my position is hardly one of public trust etc. I realize that should they discovered it i will be fired as any employer would likely do, including myself.

All it boils down to is should i go in next monday and begin my training, should i come clean and tell them i cant accept the job because i lied, or should i not accept the job now and just walk away from it and not look back. To avoid this position again i will likely not mention that employer again and continue to put "no never been fired" on forms. i believe that is the approach i should have taken, but that previous position basically got me this job when i needed it (like i said hired on the spot)

Cliff notes:
- said i was never fired on a job form when i have been
- have been through diversion program so should anyone attempt to press charges no leniency will be shown
- am concerned as to weather or not i can be charged for that lie on the form
- should i start the job or just not accept it before i even start?

 

[I AM ALWAYS LIABLE]

What is the name of your state?i was recently fired from my position with a previous employer in retail sales. After speaking with my dept. head he said my preformace was exemplary (not reason for firing) and that he would give a good refrence and also say i quit and was not fired. I applied for a new job in similar sales position with another company and because of the position i was in a was forced to mention my previous experience in order to get the position and I gave my dept. heads number for their refrence. However they decided to hire me on the spot before making any calls, but in the paper work they asked if i had been fired within the past 3 years which i answered no. It was a standard application form which required listing of previous positions and a signiture at the end by myself.

I have already been through a diversion program where i agreed to do community service for an offence rather than get charged, recieve a criminal record, and be unable to become an engineer (i am in school currently). I am curious if my new employer discovered that i had in fact been fired where i stated no would they then be in a position to press charges for fraud or something along that degree. Fear of being fired is non existant since i can continue my job search regardless and if i lose the job i wouldnt have had one anyways. My ONLY fear is being charged. That being said is it a possibility, and if so, what is the likelyhood it would happen considering my position is hardly one of public trust etc. I realize that should they discovered it i will be fired as any employer would likely do, including myself.

All it boils down to is should i go in next monday and begin my training, should i come clean and tell them i cant accept the job because i lied, or should i not accept the job now and just walk away from it and not look back. To avoid this position again i will likely not mention that employer again and continue to put "no never been fired" on forms. i believe that is the approach i should have taken, but that previous position basically got me this job when i needed it (like i said hired on the spot)

Cliff notes:
- said i was never fired on a job form when i have been
- have been through diversion program so should anyone attempt to press charges no leniency will be shown
- am concerned as to weather or not i can be charged for that lie on the form
- should i start the job or just not accept it before i even start?

My response:

What is the FIRST question that you failed to answer. Hint: It's asked before your first sentence.

IAAL

 

[Spartus]

To be specific ontario, canada. i wouldnt know how different fraud laws are here vs there. i was hoping for general advice

 

[cbg]

There's really no such thing as general advice when it comes to the law. The laws in each of the 50 states vary, which is why that question exists in the first place. The law in Canada is in many ways COMPLETELY different than the law in the US.

However, my answer here is precisely the same as it would be if you WERE in the US: Only you can make the decision as to how to deal with this. There is no 100% guarantee. By lying, you have set yourself up to be fired. It is unlikely in the extreme that your employer can file any charges against you for lying; lying on a job application is not a crime, at least in the US. I don't know Canadian law so I can't speak to that. However, regardless of how your employer finds out about the lie, you can and almost certainly will be fired for it, regardless of whether they find out today, tomorrow or next year.

BTW, I don't know how unemployment works in Canada but if you were fired for this reason in the US, you would almost certainly NOT be eligible for unemployment benefits. Just something to remember if you're ever tempted to lie on an employment application again.

 

[Spartus]

"It is unlikely in the extreme that your employer can file any charges against you for lying" that seems to be what i was looking for, but dont think i took it out of context and ignored the rest of your statements.

within 6 weeks or so i'll be on school again and employment will be less significant. I jumped on this position cause i knew it was an easy one to get but i am still continuing my job search. I simply need to maximize my employment for the next 6 weeks. everything else is a non issue, including the unemployment benifits, which was in fact something i never considered since this position is such short term.

incidently i spent quite some time searching for a similar canadian resources after finding this one, but it didn't prove to be a successful search. Quite a shame something a useful as this doesnt exist.

thank you very much for your time, it's greatly appreciated.