California HR question:
We hired an employee for a role requiring a college degree. During onboarding, the employee submitted a high school diploma that was issued through a community college/adult education program, and our team mistakenly interpreted it as an associate’s degree. The employee has already started working.
There does not appear to be intentional falsification at this point, but the role was intended to require a completed degree.
How have other employers handled situations like this? Did you move forward with termination for not meeting minimum qualifications, waive the requirement, or handle it another way?
Not looking for legal advice, just general HR experiences and best practices.
UPDATE: so I ended up calling my manager. The manager that I am closer with and would be more understanding rather than the group chat. Putting this in the group chat would’ve had too many cooks in the kitchen.
It was hard to do but I just explained what happened, which was the truth, and initially she just said ok, no worries. Then the text came; she was doubting the candidates ability. This is where I put my foot down and said 1) the candidate was not lying but rather a miscommunication overall and I should’ve clarified. 2) I told her the role didn’t need a degree. 700 applicants and no one with degrees were applying.
I said give her a shot. If she’s not good, we term of course. But just give her a shot.
I think this post highlights a few things and thank you to everyone who replied. I’m actually surprised at the division here, usually this subreddit is very black and white. But this situation and the discussion around it highlights the nuance of HR; the balancing of ethos, policy, morality, and the “business” side of things. How much are we willing to allow vs not. And how sometimes we need to just do the thing that is more difficult and push back on management.
I think ultimately coming clean, for my own sanity and to avoid making a bigger mess down the road, was the best move. As HR, we know our company and management best. But thank you to everyone who contributed, it was great discourse.