Ethically, this issue is grounded in a fundamental standpoint (more specifically, integrity and trust) . This employee has lied on his job application, and has continued to live what that lie while employed with this company. This is a complete breach of trust, and his integrity for this company has been shattered. While it is true that this employee is popular within the company (and may not have done anything wrong while employed), the fact remains that the employee lied. If the employee lied about this, what else could the employee have lied about?
In regards to a response to the issue, it would behoove the company to go ahead and either terminate the employee or ask him to resign. The employee lied on a job application, and withheld key information that was crucial to his chances of becoming an employee with the company. While it may have been a coincidence that the employee simply forgot to fill out that part (and it was an oversight of the human resources department when filling out and finishing the candidates application), it still shows shady behavior.

However, since there was an issue with the filling of the application (on the company’s side, more specifically the human resources side of the business), it would also be crucial that the company offer the employee the chance to turn in a letter of resignation and leave the company. If fired, the employee could turn around and sue the company for improper filling of his paperwork (which could then be pinned on the company). This could cost the company a substantial amount of money in legal costs, and would result in a huge headache for management.

It would also be beneficial to go back through and reprimand the human resources department. They made an error, and actions need to be taken. While the firing of a human resources employee would probably not be necessary, they still need to be either written up or counseled on the issue.

Additionally, a letter needs to be sent to the upper echelons of management, describing the incident, what has actions have been taken to correct the issue(s), and what the action plan is going to be to ensure that incidents such as this don’t happen again.

An action plan would include extra training on correctly finishing candidates applications, or even the additional hiring of a human resources officer that could look over applications after they are submitted (to ensure the completion of the application). Additionally, a current employee may be able to take on additional job responsibilities related to this course of action (for an increase in benefits, pay, etc.).

Alignment
Part of the corporate culture for the company revolves around integrity. This issue aligns with that promise to retain that integrity. Integrity was broken, and the company needs to repair that integrity. Terminating the employee, punishing human resources, and developing an action plan are all crucial steps to repairing the integrity of the company.

This action plan also aligns with the mission of the company, which states that it wants to uphold high standards throughout the profession. By following the steps taken, it will continue to prove that high standards are admired and followed.

Moral Philosophy
These actions that will be taken are grounded in deontology. The company must adhere to its mission statement and the corporate culture that has been strived towards. The company has an obligation to be ethical and truthful, and retaining an employee that has shown signs of being untruthful goes against those obligations.

Stakeholders
For the clients/customers of the company, the actions taken will give them positive feelings and a greater hope that the company will do what is right when faced with a dilemma such as this one. The impact will be positive.
For the suppliers, the impact will be nothing. They will continue to do business with the company, no matter what. However, if clients were to be lost from the scandal, suppliers may jump ship (due to losing profits), so the impact could be great if no actions are taken with the employee involved in the incident.

Employees will be impacted greatly. The employee was considered popular, and this probably won’t bode well with everyone. However, an example needs to be made to show that dishonesty will not be tolerated (as well as huge oversights by other employees, in terms of the human resources offices mistake).

Government agencies will probably not be affected by the incident, or the action plan, as they take a wider approach to the company (not necessarily interested in the inner workings).

Community could be greatly affected, if no action plan is taken. However, with the current action plan, the trust maintained with the community will be kept, which is important for future endeavors.

Mass media could be affected, if the scandal gets out and no appropriate actions are taken. However, if the action plan is taken, very little mass media will be affected (or will affect the company).

Trade associations will be affected greatly (and in a negative way). The employees that are a part of these trade associations reflect upon those organizations, and any negative reflections are bad for the trade association. A corrective action plan will need to be taken, in order to ensure quality control.

Competitors could benefit from any negative publicity, if no corrective action plans are taken. However, with an action plan put into place, this will not be an issue.

Plan for Future Issues
As stated above, the plan for preventing further issues will involve greater oversight with the human resources department and employees, as well as additional training programs that will aim to prevent further issues such as this.

Formal Company Response
To whom this may concern:
It has recently come to light that an employee has been dishonest with his job application, and criminal backgrounds have not been disclosed.

In light of this, the employee will either be terminated or given the option to resign on his own terms, with no negative consequences for future job searches.

As well, this issue has been directly linked to an oversight with the human resources department. Because of this, a review of the human resources department’s proceedings will be conducted, and employees that failed to correctly process the employee’s job application will be reprimanded as seen fit.

Future training programs will be conducted and held for the human resources department, so that incidents such as this will not occur. Job responsibilities may be shifted in the human resources department, so that applications are reviewed more thoroughly to ensure that all information submitted is present and correct. This may also result in the hiring of an additional human resources member, to ensure quality control with candidates applications.

Respectfully,

Belle Cheveaux Manager