Employment Verification Dilemma: Should a Company Pay Full Salary After Discovering False Information?

Dear All,

Greetings for the day!

Employment Verification and Salary Payment Query

This question is regarding employment verification and salary payment. If a company appoints an experienced candidate and, due to some circumstances, the employee verification gets delayed after the appointment (ideally, all verifications should be completed before joining, but in this case, the candidate was unable to provide past company documents on time and was appointed on good faith). After verification, it was found that the employee had provided false information during the interview. Based on this, the company terminates the employee.

In this scenario, does the company need to pay the full salary to the employee considering they only worked for the last 15 days? What if the company only provides 50% of the salary since no actual work was done, but termination was necessary due to false information provided by the employee?

Thank you.

Whether the newly-appointed employee was assigned any job or not, he has to be paid the salary for the period so engaged. Termination is a separate issue and should be dealt with accordingly.

Warm regards.

The company has obligations to pay the salary and is not denying it. The main concern is that there were many new investments made in that profile due to it being a newly started project. After investing significant time and resources in the recruitment process, the termination of the plan caused a delay in an important project. This delay results in a loss for the company. In this scenario, can the company at least recover the amount from the candidate, which could be directly deducted from the candidate's salary as an action against providing false information?

In this case, the candidate is asked to leave without salary and documents for his employment. However, I would suggest that this decision should be taken only after one-on-one discussions with him to find out the reason behind it. Based on his reason and genuineness, further steps should be determined. The priority should lie with management on whether to hire him or terminate his employment.

Thank you.

Dear Varsha, It is evident that there is a delay in verification which made the facts come up after 15 days or a month. If the same facts surface after 6 months, then in the meantime, are you sure that your so-called project would have been successfully completed by this non-competent gentleman? I am not sure. As correctly advised by our senior friends earlier, first try to understand where the company went wrong and understand where candidates can be wrong.

Payment Obligations and Legal Considerations

Now, paying the employee is your obligation. Whether to deduct or not, there is no law for this. But at the same time, you cannot rule out the possibility that the person may go to a labor court or seek legal support. At that time, your deduction will be viewed as a serious offense committed by the company, and as such, the mistake or false claim made by the candidate will be overlooked. Just look at it from this angle as well.

Regards, J S R

I completely agree with the statement of Sree Ram. The first company should find out what went wrong. The company should not punish a person two times for one offense. If, at the time of the interview, the gentleman gave false information, he should be terminated. Even though he has served the company for 15 days, the company should pay him the salary for the days he had worked there.

Handling Employee Verification and Salary Payment

Without delving into controversies, please ensure that the employee is paid their full wages for the period they were on the company's payroll. I encountered a similar case in my career, where an employee had provided a false caste certificate to gain benefits under that category. After about 12 years, a complaint was lodged. The certificate was provisionally verified, revealing some grounds for the complaint. Subsequently, the employee was suspended pending a departmental inquiry that lasted for about 4 years. During this period, the employee remained under suspension, unlike in your case. Upon the inquiry's completion, the employee is on the verge of termination. However, a termination order is pending issuance, while the employee is receiving a subsistence allowance in line with the Standing Order provisions, despite the proven charges.

Therefore, dear Sir, please be assured that the employee currently on the roster and actively present is entitled to their salary for the period. The substantiation of the false certificate charge and the termination process should be treated as separate matters and handled accordingly.

Best wishes,

Regards,
AK Jain
HR Personnel
NCL, CIL

I appreciate your answer, along with the case cited. Also, I would like to reiterate that payment of salary for the period the employee was engaged, and submission of a false certificate are two different issues and should be dealt with accordingly. There are several cases where such matters were detected after years. It does not mean nor entitle the company to recover all the salaries paid.

Warm regards.