What should we do about lying on applications?

Our company, based in California, has approximately 200 employees. Although it is legal to ask about criminal convictions, may I also assume that it is legal to discount a candidate who states that he/she was not convicted of a felony or misdemeanor and actually was (even if misdemeanor is not job related - i.e. reckless driving). Bear in mind the application does state that admission is not an automatic disqualification and they are required to sign a statement acknowledging we will verify all information on application and that they understand any discrepancies, etc. can be grounds for termination, etc.

Rita Risser's Response:

By all means, you can discount and downright refuse to hire someone who lies on their application. That's called resume fraud, and is grounds for termination even after they have started working for you and are performing excellently. The theory is that if they lie on the application, they also will lie while employed. You are to be commended for actually doing background checks on applicants.

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