Denton, MD asked in Employment Law for Maryland

Q: Can an employer make you take a poly test for something missing off their property that has nothing with the business?

Employer is threatening to fire if you do not do the poly test. Again what is missing has NOTHING to do with her business

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1 Lawyer Answer
Mark Oakley
Mark Oakley
Answered
  • Rockville, MD
  • Licensed in Maryland

A: Unless you are working for a government office or agency, or under a union contract or employment contract, for which specific protections are provided against such a requirement, the generl rule for private employers and employees is that you are an "at-will" employee, meaning you can be terminated from your employment at the will of the employer, at any time, for any reason, so long as the reason is not based on your race, gender, religious affiliation, or other protected classification. While your employer may have no good basis to impose this requirement, you can be terminated if you elect to refuse to take the polygraph. You both have the freedom to choose what happens in this scenario. It may be time to look for a new employer who does not treat every single one of their employees as guilty until they prove their innocence based on a scientifically unsound, unreliable and unproven electronic gizmo that no court will accept as evidence in a trial. Mass polygraphing of all employees is a lazy man's method of uncovering the truth, and only serves to undermine morale and anger all the innocent emplyees who have nothing to do with the alleged crime by smearing them with a false suspicion of wrongdoing. But some people are not good employers or leaders of other people, and their business will suffer once all their employees no longer respect their employer or feel respected and trusted in return. Probably the worst management decision they could make for their business, but the law imposes no duty on employers to act in their best interest. They can be as stupid and shortsighted as they choose.

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