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Original poster

I lied

289 replies

Smile03 · 05/12/2022 13:54

Before I get any hate I want to say I know I am in the wrong.

We had a virtual away day booked in for the whole organisation and I had a meeting which overlapped by 15 minutes.

My manager was unaware about the first meeting and I lied and told her it was about HR/ date protection.

She has then investigated this and has been told no I was not in a HR meeting.

I then repeated I was.

My manager has said she will be getting HR advice now.

I am planning on going in and telling the truth tomorrow but want to know can I get fired for this?

I work for this Civil Service

OP posts:
DancingSpleen · 05/12/2022 14:00

Why did you need to lie? You still had a meeting in that overlapped.

Why couldn’t you have just said the real meeting reason, unless you were hoping to miss the away day and knew a HR meeting wouldn’t be forced in terms of having to cancel?

snowflakeinastorm · 05/12/2022 14:01

I don’t understand why you lied instead of just saying you were in a meeting? Or do you mean you were having a job interview?

I would think it more likely you will just get a warning unless you haven’t worked there very long. In the public sector where I worked (NHS and CS), people were seldom sacked unless it was for gross misconduct.

AriettyHomily · 05/12/2022 14:01

What meeting where you in?

RishisProudMum · 05/12/2022 14:01

Why did you lie?

AntiqueCestChic · 05/12/2022 14:04

How they will manage this probably depends on why you lied and what the 15min overlap meeting was about.

Also how long have you worked there?

Hoppinggreen · 05/12/2022 14:05

Why did you lie?

ronaldthecat · 05/12/2022 14:08

Totally bizarre. I work for the Civil Service and my boss wouldn't even care if I was 15 minutes late. There is literally no reason to lie. Confused

"My x meeting will unfortunately overlap so I'll join you as soon as I can."

Job done.

DisplayPurposesOnly · 05/12/2022 14:12

Ditto @ronaldthecat .

I think there will be bigger fallout from lying than from missing 15 min of a meeting. Who wants an unreliable untrustworthy employee who can't take responsibility!

Pertinent info needed - have you been employed more than two years?

jannier · 05/12/2022 14:18

I'm guessing you lied because the meeting was a private one...in which case you would get a disciplinary if it was to disclose misconduct by your manager then it would be reasonable.

OhILoveDoughnuts · 05/12/2022 14:28

I guess it would depend what the meeting was? And why you lied?

Hoppinggreen · 05/12/2022 14:28

Sounds like it wasn’t a work meeting?

Newwardrobe · 05/12/2022 14:40

Your best bet is to apologise profusely and explain why you lied .

Pondere · 05/12/2022 14:40

You need to tell us why you lied and what the meeting was actually about before we can advise you.

new2zumba · 05/12/2022 14:41

Why lie

Grumpyoldpersonwithcats · 05/12/2022 14:46

I'm curious why on earth your manager would be suspicious and decide to investigate.

Do you have form for not being available for dodgy reasons?

Quveas · 05/12/2022 14:48

Like everyone else, I am perplexed as to why you would lie. But I do think that there are two issues here, and the outcome depends on each AND both. Lying to your manager, not once, but twice, is serious on it's own. You had a chance to come clean, and lied for a second time when asked directly. That's not going to go down well, and being honest now isn't going to cut you much, if any, slack.

The second issue is the "what were you really doing"? That might providesome mitigation. An a
appointment with your doctor about something embarrassing, for example, may not excuse the lie, but it might be slightly more understandable. If you were in a job interview, and fiddling your time sheet, you are seriously screwed. So what were you doing?

And at this stage there's no point being coy, because you must tell the truth, and the whole truth, to your manager. Firstly, they'll probably want evidence for anything you now claim. And secondly, if you escape the worst right now, another lie and you'll deserve anything they throw at you. So you may as well tell us so that if there's a chance at explaining this in a way that saves your bacon, we've got a decent chance at helping you find it.

Knors · 05/12/2022 14:50

Perplexed too. Makes zero sense.

Lilgamesh2 · 05/12/2022 14:50

If you have a good reason for lying perhaps they'll be sympathetic?

Let us know the real reason you couldn't attend and we can maybe help you spin it so they are sympathetic to the lie.

Liars at work are annoying BUT if you are a good employee and suitably contrite they may look past it.

The fact that she investigated your lie doesn't sound good unfortunately, she probably didn't trust you before this.

strawberry2017 · 05/12/2022 14:52

We need the rest of the story please!

AnyFucker · 05/12/2022 14:52

😳

TallulahBetty · 05/12/2022 14:52

Crumb of context for the poor, m'lud?

NameChangeLifeChange · 05/12/2022 14:53

Yeah this sounds weird surely if it was another work meeting it was no big deal?

AllThatFancyPaintsAsFair · 05/12/2022 14:55

I hope you are going to be more coherent in your meeting

WeepingSomnambulist · 05/12/2022 14:56

Why did you need to lie? If it was work meeting for that company then there wouldnt have been an issue. The issue is that you lied for some odd reason.

If it was a meeting for a job interview or a personal meeting then you shouldn't have been doing that during work hours and yes, you can face disciplinary action.

catandcoffee · 05/12/2022 14:56

Just waiting to hear the reason you lied ?

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