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PROGRAM D-7679
Can this job be saved? For example, take this situation:
You are the HR Director for a company that does a lot of business with the government. As a result, you have to complete government forms and abide by government rules in order to secure and keep your contract. Currently you are required to complete a form which asks if you’re in compliance with some of these rules—and in fact, you are not. Policies and procedures need to be changed in order to comply. So, you turn the forms into the President without your signature, noting the lack of compliance. Instead of agreeing to the needed changes which take time and cost money, the President insists that you complete the forms, making up numbers and facts to satisfy the government requirements and sign and submit them. After all, he tells you, nobody will know the difference!
You explain that you can’t do that as a matter of integrity. He is furious, grabs the forms and says he will complete and sign them himself. What do you do now?
The question now is, do you have further responsibility to alert anyone that the forms are not correct, or have you done all you can and should do? Certainly taking this kind of stand could put your job in jeopardy. So, do you make matters worse by any further action on your part?
Every situation would have to be carefully considered. In most cases, I think simply refusing to be a part of any deceptive action is where your duty ends. But there could be situations where safety or other bad consequences might cause you to speak up against this illegal action.
And it may be true that this job cannot be saved—you could lose your job as a result. Peter wrote about unjust suffering, and he said, “But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in his steps.”
Suffering unjustly for the sake of what is right gets God’s attention. It’s the same kind of suffering that Jesus endured, and he will give you the grace to endure as well. None of us asks for suffering, but if it is unjust, believe me, God will have the last word and you will receive his favor.