AboutBrian Phillips Expertise Can answer questions in areas of wage and hour, OT, Fair labor standards, FMLA, COBRA, Recruiting, Interviewing techniques, employee manuals, HRIS rollout, Employee Leasing or Staffing company cost analysis, bacon, eggs, and more. Essentially a well rounded HR generalist who operates Harvis, Inc., a human resource consulting and service business based in Northeastern Pennsylvania "NEPA". www.harvis.org
Experience As owner and chief consultant at Harvis, Inc., we provide Human Resource services and structure to small businesses without their own HR department. We make workplaces better by becoming that 1/2 person they need to help handle HR responsibilities on a daily, weekly or monthly basis.
Formerly responsible for all Human Resource activity for a staffing company with 2,500 annual employees as well as an employee leasing / PEO business with 1,500 annual employees. Designed and implemented the HR structure to support hundreds of clients in excess of $ 500 million in payroll volume over career in Human Resources.
Organizations * Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Business and Industry - current member and former co-chairperson for the HR Taskforce;
* Tri-County Personnel Association (oldest continuous operating "HR" association in the nation (we think));
* Back Mountain Business Association - Dallas PA
* Business Association of the Greater Shickshinny Area - Shickshinny PA
Publications Northeast PA Business Journal - interviewed for various articles
HR Insights - Chamber of Commerce HR publication
Education/Credentials Bloomsburg State University - 1993 BS Marketing located in Bloomsburg Pennsylvania and Luzerne County Community College - 1991 Business Administration located in Nanticoke, Pennsylvania
Awards and Honors * Better than average - 20/10 vision
* Bestowed with an occasional "Thank You" from clients and their employees.
Question Hello,
I live in Louisiana, and I work for a nationwide retail company. I've been working for them for a year and half now, and when I got hired on the application asked "Have you been convicted of a Felony in the past 7 years?" and I answered no because I haven't. I'm not sure if they did a background check when hired but they just recently did one and I had a misdeamenor come back and they are trying to fire me over it, they said if I can provide documentation that it's getting expunged then I can keep my job. The misdeameanor also happened 4 years ago and is the only thing on my record. The thing is that they want it done in 7 days and I can't get it done in that time and also when sentenced the judge didn't state it under the articly 894,(which means it can be expunged), so therefore I would have to go in front of the judge and get re-sentenced to try and get it under that article and then go through the expungement process, from what I understand. Is this correct or is there any other way that I can go about this? I know a judge but not that well at all and will talk to him tomorrow, what should I try and do to keep my job???
Answer Michael,
Sorry to hear you are in such a situation.
The company only asked for felonies on the application is what you say. They did not ask for "other crimes" " or any crimes that you feel would be related to the essential functions of your job". As long as the question was specific to felonies ONLY, then they should not be terminating you for that reason. So, as long as you did not lie on the application and answered the question as they asked, they should not be terminating you for this--- they should be updating their applications to avoid this in the future.
Obviously, that is the reason you are being let go proven by their request to have your record expunged. To expunge is not an easy process to go through and you must meet certain criterion to get over each hurdle along the way. (of course, the crime you were charged with will also determine if expungement is even an option) You are best served by asking advice from an attorney on the topic of Louisiana expungement. In ANY case, I guarantee expungement won't happen within 7 days- unless you know the Governor.
From the HR side, regardless of the crime, the employer could let you go anyway because Louisiana is an "at will" state. This means you can quit or leave work (resign) for any or no reason and the employer can also let you go, lay you off or fire you for any or no reason.
I don't think this is the answer you wanted, but feel free to follow up if needed.
