Asked to sign untrue statement upon resignation from job

[Jay968]

What is the name of your state?California

I started training for employment with a company at end of April 2021 but resigned for various reasons in mid May.

A few days ago I received a form titled "Notice to Employee as to Change in Relationship." in which they are asking me to sign 2 sections and return the form to them:

1 - VOLUNTARY separation with a date in May of 2021. "Personal reasons" box was checked for me. (I have no problem signing off on this).
2 - INVOLUNTARY separation with a date in December of 2020. "Violation of company policy" box was checked for me. (I have a big problem signing off on this part as it is not true). I never worked for them prior to April 2021, and obviously I was never terminated by them for violations or otherwise.

I never worked for this company in December of 2020, nor ANY time prior. This is pure crap!
I responded to the HR person by stating that I would not sign such a letter as it contains untrue statements and I asked for an explanation.

The response was "there is a lot of activity with unemployment such as fraud. I can only support the information of the timeline you worked for XXXX."

I basically responded to this by saying "HUH?" and once again asked for an explanation and stating that I never even worked for the company prior to April of 2021.

Any suggestions on where to go with this? My fear is that whether I sign this or not, the part about having been terminated just may come back to haunt me one day. Are my fears justified?

Thanks

 

[quincy]

What is the name of your state?California

I started training for employment with a company at end of April 2021 but resigned for various reasons in mid May.

A few days ago I received a form titled "Notice to Employee as to Change in Relationship." in which they are asking me to sign 2 sections and return the form to them:

1 - VOLUNTARY separation with a date in May of 2021. "Personal reasons" box was checked for me. (I have no problem signing off on this).
2 - INVOLUNTARY separation with a date in December of 2020. "Violation of company policy" box was checked for me. (I have a big problem signing off on this part as it is not true). I never worked for them prior to April 2021, and obviously I was never terminated by them for violations or otherwise.

I never worked for this company in December of 2020, nor ANY time prior. This is pure crap!
I responded to the HR person by stating that I would not sign such a letter as it contains untrue statements and I asked for an explanation.

The response was "there is a lot of activity with unemployment such as fraud. I can only support the information of the timeline you worked for XXXX."

I basically responded to this by saying "HUH?" and once again asked for an explanation and stating that I never even worked for the company prior to April of 2021.

Any suggestions on where to go with this? My fear is that whether I sign this or not, the part about having been terminated just may come back to haunt me one day. Are my fears justified?

Thanks

You should not sign anything that is not true.

I suggest you tell HR that you will sign a form that accurately reflects your real dates of employment (hire date) and that shows there was a voluntarily separation in May 2021. Period.

Follow up with a formal letter sent certified mail stating the same.

 

[LdiJ]

I agree with Quincy, and I doubt that anyone else here would disagree.

 

[Jay968]

Thank you. I have already told them I will not sign this until they explain to me what this is all about and strike the untrue part from it.
I was just wondering if anyone knew what this might be about being that I mentioned the title of the form and the fact that unemployment was mentioned in the response. Is it possible that this is something they send along to unemployment when they are told that an employee has applied for unemployment? If I never mention them in a job application (I wouldn't anyway since I didn't work for them long enough) do I need to worry about this form?

 

[quincy]

Have you filed for unemployment? If so, did you lie on any paperwork submitted to the unemployment office?

You should not have to worry about the form if you don’t sign it as it is. You could have reason to worry if you sign the form with the inaccuracies in place.

You really need to discuss this with HR.

 

[Jay968]

No, I have not filed for unemployment in my life and I have no intention of doing so.

Yes, I have responded to the request and to the second letter where she states "there is a lot of activity with unemployment such as fraud. I can only support the information of the timeline you worked for XXXX."

I've asked for a reason for this form and stated several times already that I did not work for the company at any time prior to April of 2021. So far, she has ignored this.

I suppose I came here partly to get some advice as to whether or not I should consult with an attorney. I suppose my biggest fear is that one day I will apply for a job someplace and a background check will show this erroneous information on me.

 

[adjusterjack]

You have no obligation to sign anything. You don't work there anymore. There's nothing they can do to you for not signing.

I suppose my biggest fear is that one day I will apply for a job someplace and a background check will show this erroneous information on me.

Well, I hope when you resigned you did it in writing and kept a copy in your permanent file on the remote chance that something like that happens.

 

[Jay968]

I'm not worried about not signing. I know I have no obligation to sign anything and even if I did, I know I have an absolute right not to sign off on a lie.
No I did not keep a copy of my resignation letter and frankly I don't see what difference that makes. They are SAYING I resigned in May. I am not disputing that. What I am disputing is that they are also saying I was terminated last December for violating company policy...WHEN I HADN'T EVEN WORKED FOR THEM BACK THEN!
Again, the only thing I am worried about is that they may report my so called "December termination" to a background check agency.

 

[adjusterjack]

Again, the only thing I am worried about is that they may report my so called "December termination" to a background check agency.

There's nothing you can to to prevent that. If it ever happens, you handle it when it happens.

 

[Jay968]

Yes I understand but the problem is I may never know, even if I am denied a job based on it.
I have written to the executive VP of human resources for help in the matter. It is a HUGE company and there are literally dozens of HR reps around the country. I hope it gets through to him and he does help.

 

[Just Blue]

Yes I understand but the problem is I may never know, even if I am denied a job based on it.
I have written to the executive VP of human resources for help in the matter. It is a HUGE company and there are literally dozens of HR reps around the country. I hope it gets through to him and he does help.

Go in and take a look at your employee file and take pictures of your records. At least you will have records to dispute/correct any erroneous information that may arise.

https://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/faq_righttoinspectpersonnelfiles.htm

I'm going to tag @cbg so she can confirm you have the right to do that.

 

[Jay968]

Thank you, this may help.

 

[quincy]

I'm not worried about not signing. I know I have no obligation to sign anything and even if I did, I know I have an absolute right not to sign off on a lie.
No I did not keep a copy of my resignation letter and frankly I don't see what difference that makes. They are SAYING I resigned in May. I am not disputing that. What I am disputing is that they are also saying I was terminated last December for violating company policy...WHEN I HADN'T EVEN WORKED FOR THEM BACK THEN!
Again, the only thing I am worried about is that they may report my so called "December termination" to a background check agency.

If an employment denial is solely based on what is found on a background check report, the employer should tell you what background check company was used so you can get a copy of the report and dispute any erroneous information.

I doubt that the faulty job termination information will make its way to a background check report.

 

[cbg]

There has been a nationwide issue of unemployment fraud for over a year. I wonder if you somehow got tagged in that?

Here is the law on personnel files in CA:

https://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/faq_righttoinspectpersonnelfiles.htm

 

[Jay968]

I've never applied for unemployment in my life. Plus I DID have to pass a background check when I got this last job in April. So if there is something dating back to last December, it sure didn't impact my getting this job.
It's just weird that the same company that hired me in April is claiming that I was terminated in December. I wrote to the HR supervisor for the entire company and he said he would forward my email to someone to look into this. He did also state that he had no idea where this would end up though. The biggest hassle is that nobody at all so far has answered my question as to even what exactly this report is used for. It's very annoying but one of the reasons why I DIDN'T continue with this company is that I noticed a very bad habit on their part in keeping info to themselves, not only from employees but from customers as well. I asked several questions along the way and was ignored.
Not positive, but my feeling is that since I didn't stick around with this company long enough, I wouldn't ever use it as a reference when looking for another job anyway, so I may not have anything at all to worry about...unless there is some kind of national database of these reports that a background check may see. I am sure I could take legal action if and when this ever comes up and prevents me from getting a job, but my god, to have to go through being denied a job and having to explain it all etc. etc. What a hassle that may be!