AboutLeslie Expertise Twenty years experience in instructional design: writing courses in
technical and non technical fields. Worked in documentation and
presentations of complex technical and non technical information,
business writing, and presentations. Trained in Information Mapping
methodology.
Experience BS and MA in Communications. Numerous awards for quality and cycle time reduction related to training. Editor for newsletters; writing and teaching background; Teach college level English, speech, diversity, and management classes.
Question QUESTION: Is it legal to use designators from non-accredited certifications as suffixes in a signature block, such as
Joe Smith, SSBM, VBLSS, CPI (meaning Six Sigma Green Belt, Value Based Lean Six sigma, or continuous Process Improvement), simply because you took an on-line one week course and printed out the schools's certificate? The on-line training center has responded that it is a non-registered, non-accredited program, but does have an ISO certification.
I have an employee that I am advising against doing so, but cannt tie my advice to any legal or professional standard.
I hope the question is clear. Please advise.
Thank you,
Darrell Peebles
ANSWER: Darrell,
I am not a lawyer, so I cannot attest to the legality of the signature designators. AllExperts do have a lawyer available for such advice.
These designators are used liberally among people in many of the professions. Insurance, for instance, uses these designators to indicate a person's licensing status. The licensing status is required to do business. The same is true for medicine: MD or RN, or degrees from school: PhD.
In the case of the quality designations, because the person did not get a license or degree with any of the training, the designators are simply a vanity and could be misinterpreted as a licensing status. You might mention that he or she could be ridiculed for being so vain. Often, even the Ph.D.s will drop their designations to see less officious.
Again, I could not say legally what could be done, but I would suggest that the designators would confuse more than clarify. If the person wants others to know that he or she is a quality expert, then I would include some information on a calling card or a line in the signature block.
Hope this helps. Sounds like this person is proud of his or her work.
Leslie
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Regretfully, I was not clear enough in my query. This person would be ok if the training she received was from an accredited institution, one asspciated with a registration organization. Her training had no such credentials. As a result, my take is she should not be claiming an accredited license by using these designations in an email signature block. Is that correct or no?
Answer Darrell,
You are asking a question about a legal signature. I cannot advise you about the law, especially if the law is in Kuwait.
A legal signature is the one on a person's birth certificate or one that has been changed legally. That said, many people use signatures that are not their legal names (Joseph Blough can be Joe Blough), which can include designations. For official documents, the legal signature is required. The reason I am mentioning this fact is that many people use degrees and designations with their signatures. Whether the institution is certified or part of a state licensure agreement makes the designations relevant, but the designations are not the person's legal name, nor are they legal.
What you seem to think I (or anyone) can say is whether the signature with designations from an unrecognized organization is legitimate (legal). No it is not, but then neither is the designation from a legitimate institution legal. The real question is whether the designation is recognized.
Let me give you an example. Microsoft offers training in its products. The training is rigorous and recognized worldwide. They offer a designation to those who complete the courses, which can be as short as taking an exam or as long as a year's education. Microsoft, however, is not an institution of learning with certification rights, so by your definition, the Microsoft designation could not be used. To the contrary, many people point with great pride at these designations and often put them next to their names as proof of having completed and passed the courses. Most people would recognized the designations as having value.
Your employee could add GGP (Great Grand Poobah) after her name if she likes. She would not be breaking the law unless she was signing a legal document.
Regarding your issue... You are looking for a reason she should not use the designations because you feel she is not qualified based on the status of the institution from which she got the training. I would check with company policy in such matters. If the company does not recognize the institutions, then I would recommend that you advise her that the company does not feel the designations are appropriate, and she should delete them. If she is working in a department that controls quality, I would advise her that her designations could jeopardize the image of the department because she is not as educated as those Master Black Belts around her. If she is not in a quality department, then I would explain that the designations could be misleading and inappropriate for where she is working. I might also advise her that a bit of modesty goes a long way toward appearing credible. By foregoing the designations, she can surprise those around her with her knowledge and seem more credible.
