Section 69 – Founded and unfounded – Fraud – Manager falsifies student's educational documents for CO-OP work placements

Authority: This investigation was conducted under section 69 of the Public Service Employment Act, S.C. 2003, c.22, ss. 12 and 13.

Issue: Near the end of a 2015 summer work term, a Post-Secondary CO-OP/Internship Program (CO-OP) student raised concerns with a human resources (HR) advisor about whether another student in the same work unit was eligible to be hired under the CO-OP program. The purpose of the investigation was to determine whether a manager and the student he hired committed fraud by altering documents to make it look like the student was eligible to be hired under the Public Service Commission’s (PSC’s) CO-OP program.

Conclusions: The investigation concluded that the hiring manager committed fraud when he deliberately altered official university documents and submitted them to the HR advisor. The hiring process was compromised because the student, who was not in a CO-OP program, was appointed to a CO-OP position in the public service based on those falsified documents. The evidence showed that the student was not aware that the manager had altered them. The student was found not to have committed fraud.

Facts:The PSC’s program provides opportunities for students enrolled in CO-OP programs to gain practical experience in their field of study within federal organizations. Students alternate semesters of classroom instruction with work placements related to their field of study. To be eligible, students must be recognized by their academic institution as having full-time status in an approved CO-OP program.

In 2014, a university sent a public service manager a list of more than 30 students enrolled in one of their cooperative education programs. All of the students had expressed an interest in a CO-OP work term within the manager’s organization.

A student enrolled in a traditional program at the same university (not in a CO-OP program) also contacted the same manager to express interest in obtaining work within the manager’s organization. The student later met with the manager and restated their interest in obtaining work during the 2014 summer break. The student clearly stated that they were in a traditional program and the manager understood this to be the case. The manager advised the student to submit an application to the PSC’s Federal Student Work Experience Program (FSWEP), another student program. It also provides employment opportunities but students do not need to be enrolled in a cooperative education program. For the FSWEP program, students who meet the criteria for the job are randomly selected from a large database.

After their meeting, and at the manager’s request, the student emailed the manager a résumé and transcript. Both documents confirmed that the student was enrolled in a traditional program of study. After receiving the documents, the manager asked the student to update the résumé in CO-OP format. The student did so, believing that this format was simply a requirement of the electronic database for student employment. The manager did not inform the student that they were being considered for a position designated for students in CO OP programs.

The manager stated that he had been under pressure to hire students and that he had attempted to hire the student through FSWEP. When his efforts failed to obtain the specific student’s name from the FSWEP database, he altered the student’s transcript and a certified letter from the university to falsely portray the student as being registered in a cooperative education program. He then hired the student as well as several CO-OP students referred by the university.

The next year, the same university sent the same manager another list with the names of over 50 students interested in a 2015 summer work placement. The previously mentioned student also contacted the manager to request summer employment. The manager interviewed CO-OP students from the list supplied by the university. He also set aside a position for the other student. At the manager’s request, the student provided an updated résumé in CO-OP format, a transcript, and a certified letter from the office of the university’s registrar. The manager again altered the latter two documents to indicate that the student was registered in a CO-OP program. He submitted those documents to the HR advisor knowing he had falsified them.

The investigation determined that the student was unaware that the manager had altered the transcript and letters from the registrar’s office. The manager, who had been hiring students for more than five years, said he had not received training from HR. He admitted to deliberately altering the student’s documents and acknowledged that it was wrong for him to have done so.

Corrective action: Following the conclusion of fraud by the manager, the Commission ordered:

• That the manager complete courses in staffing as well as values and ethics. These courses were to be followed by a discussion with his director or director general.

Investigation File No.:17-18-05