The only resume falsehoods that can actually get you in legal trouble are around your educational record, I think. See:

http://www.shakelaw.com/blog/lying-on-your-resume/

Mostly it's just the risk that you'll be found out and fired (which is similar to the risk on the other side of the table— that the employee will find out and quit).

>which is similar to the risk on the other side of the table

In principle but not magnitude, especially if you've relocated.

Usually you cancel any other pending offers once you've accepted a position if you're nice, and that could close some doors because someone else takes those jobs. Might even get you red-flagged if you go back to them and say "this company lied to me so I quit" (the other person has no way to verify that's true or you blew up on someone verbally the first week and got canned).

Someone correct me if HR can give the termination reason, I don't remember.

In the US at least, legally HR can tell them whatever they want. However if the supply anything besides employment dates, title, and whether or not they are eligible for rehire, they'll be open to a civil suit if the information given negatively affected their job prospects

> if the information given negatively affected their job prospects

Asking a prospective employer what your references said about you if they pass on you sounds like a tall order. I'm lucky if I can even get a response to a cover letter + resume, definitely have never been given feedback about a sample project solution or interview (other than hired or not).

Am I wrong and it's actually one of the easier pieces of feedback to get?

At least in the UK I'm pretty sure that lying on your CV is fraud by false representation [1]. CIFAS (UK fraud prevention service) produced a suitably scary leaflet [2] to try to discourage recent grads from doing this.

[1] http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2006/35/pdfs/ukpga_20060...

[2] https://cdn.prospects.ac.uk/2.0.9/pdf/Graduate-Employment-Fr...

I thought they were exaggerating about things like jail time for lying on a CV but it has happened in the UK - six months for saying she had 2 A-levels!

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1260901/Woman-lied-...

I wonder whether any companies writer their ads in such a way that it could be construed as fraud, when it turns out to be entirely different.

Normally they probably get around with:

And any other duties, bla, bla, bla

So it's hard to see a shift in the onesidedness of the relationship

What about what they say on the interview? Verbal contracts are valid in some circumstances ... Record the interview ... :)

> (which is similar to the risk on the other side of the table— that the employee will find out and quit)

Someone more left/anti-capitalist might argue that this is disproportionately in favor of the employer. The employee is depending on this job for food/shelter. Replacing the employee is much less disruptive to the employer than the employee. Especially considering the employee may have had to move to the area for that job.

Sure. This is a reason to become your own employer and establish a B2B relationship instead - with all the pros and cons that implies.

Does that apply if your working conditions and responsibilities were to be encoded in your contract?

Most employees (at least in the US) aren't given a contract, they're given an offer of employment. This provides no guarantees as to what work you'll do, or the conditions you'll do it in, and both can change at any time.

An offer of employment is a contract, if there is an exchange of benefits involved in the agreement (you work for us X days a week, we pay you Y).

Even if it's only verbal, it's a contract; contract law applies, and if you can prove the conversation happened, you can enforce the contract in law.

This is the same in the USA and in the UK. But of course, it's much better to get a written contract before starting work (or moving home, if that's what it comes down to).

And (of course) it's much harder for an employee to enforce a contract against an employer than v.v. Contract litigation can be very expensive.

It is very common for employment offer letters in the US to clearly specify that employment is offered at will. This status has slightly different exceptions by jurisdiction, but in general, it means the agreement can be terminated at any time by either party.

Most people summarize this as "you can be fired for no reason", because that's the most commonly discussed scenario. But, your employer doesn't have to terminate your employment to terminate your employment agreement.

http://www.ncsl.org/research/labor-and-employment/at-will-em...

> At-will also means that an employer can change the terms of the employment relationship with no notice and no consequences. For example, an employer can alter wages, terminate benefits, or reduce paid time off.

Now, they can't do this retroactively, but they can do it with zero notice.

In the UK, your contract is formed by: the thing you signed, any statutory law stuff, and any custom and practice stuff in your workplace. Generally speaking however, it's the same as what other people in this subthread have pointed out: you probably can't do a lot if the employer changes your contract, either officially or unofficially. Continuing to go to work implies acceptance and well. You could attempt to take the employer to an employment tribunal,but they're expensive (even more expensive thanks to the recent Conservative governments)

Source: used to be a trade union official. If there was a union for tech jobs, they might be able to pay for tribunal costs, but when I did it we only took them on if there looked to be a greater than fifty percent chance of winning.

I am a member of the Digital Division Committee of Prospect/Bectu Committee. We do take cases for existing members.

Unison has few places it represents at (probably more for historical reasons).

How ever apart from the costs we would only take a case to tribunal if it was a good chance of winning - as the pressure on the member going through a case is considerable.

Breach of contract is not illegal. It's a tort, and you might be able to seek recompense through the courts, but I don't know how they would determine damages.

It's not illegal to lie on your resume.