How to Deal with a Lying Employee

A problem that faces many employers, is trying to determine if your employee is lying to you. An employee that is a liar can cause not only legal issues with your company, but can also have an impact on the moral of the other employees. Here are some basic tips on dealing with an employee that you suspect is lying.

Assemble the Evidence First on the Lying Employee
As much as you want to confront the lying employee on the spot, its best to wait, take a deep breath and begin gathering the facts. There is nothing worse that wrongfully accusing an employee of lying. Doing so can cause serious damage to morale within your company. All the facts you gather need to be in writing or emails. Make sure you take the time to observe the employee's behavior yourself.

Confront the Lying Employee Face to Face
Most people have a difficult time lying face to face with their boss. It's easy to lie on the phone or by email, but most people have a hard time doing it in front of someone. Schedule a time where you can meet with this person, face to face. Keep calm and remember that you cannot conduct this meeting like an interrogation. You are both professionals and you should both try to act that way. Give your employee the opportunity to save their dignity and apologize if need be. While discussing the issue with your employee, remember to ask open-ended questions. Ask them how they feel about working here, and what they have been doing lately.

If the lying employee continues to be evasive about the issue, then change the subject in your conversation. You need to reestablish a rapport with the lying employee if you want to get them to open up with you. If the opportunity arises, you can approach the subject again from another angle. Remember in the meeting to avoid any accusations, as this will accomplish nothing.

Take the Correct Action with the Lying Employee
When your conversation is completed and you have compiled the written evidence on the employee, you need to make some decisions. If the lying employee violated company policies or worse the law, you must act. This could be anything from job probation to notifying the law officers. If the lying was something less appropriate, then a stern discussion with the statement that the company does not tolerate that kind of behavior is in order.

Deception or fraud can happen to any company; however, it is important that employers not be paranoid about it. Social interaction within an office can have small white lies and deception, but if the infractions are small, it is best to let the employees work it out.