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Submitted by the Bond & Botes Law Offices - Wednesday, September 14, 2022
By Ronald C. Sykstus
This is an area of concern for security clearance applicants where one would think that there really wouldn’t be much of an issue. In fact, it can be so problematic that I have seen a number of situations where it has prohibited an individual from ever getting a security clearance.
The SF 86/e-Qip that needs to be completed when someone is sponsored for a security clearance is the start point of where this issue arises. The instructions under the employment activity section say this: “List all of your employment activities, including unemployment and self-employment, beginning with the present and working back 10 years. The entire time period must be accounted for without breaks. If the employment activity was military duty, list separate employment activity periods to show each change of military duty station. Provide separate entries for employment activities with the same employer but having different physical addresses. Do not list employment before your 18th birthday unless to provide a minimum of two years employment history.” As you can see, this detailed instruction covers a lot of ground and a lot of history.
Generally, it’s not a problem if there has been no issue with your previous employment. The issue, however, that I usually see falls under the questioning regarding leaving the previous employment activity.
This is what those questions look like:
Provide the reason for leaving the employment activity.
For this employment, have any of the following happened to you in the last seven years?
Fired, quit after being told you would be fired, left by mutual agreement following charges or allegations of misconduct, left by mutual agreement following notice of unsatisfactory performance.
Fired – provide the reason for being fired and provide the date you were fired.
Quit after being told you would be fired and provide the reason for quitting and the date you quit after being told you would be fired.
Left by mutual agreement following charges or allegations of misconduct – provide the charges or allegations of misconduct – provide the date you left following charges or allegations of misconduct.
Left by mutual agreement following notice of unsatisfactory performance – provide the reason for unsatisfactory performance – provide the date you left by mutual agreement following a notice of unsatisfactory performance.
No one wants to rehash in their own mind a bad experience, or worse, from a previous employer. Also, human nature being what it is, everyone wants to put themselves in the best possible light. As a result, I have seen a number of people try to skirt through this issue and avoid it or minimize it. The problem, however, comes when the previous employer is contacted and issued a detailed two-page document that requests a lot of information about the security clearance applicant’s previous employment at that company. Here are what those questions look like:
Mark one of the following pertaining to this person’s employment:
Subject currently employed here.
Left employment voluntarily\employment entirely favorable.
Separated because of company cutback in workforce or change in skill needs.
Left employment voluntarily\employment not entirely favorable and please explain.
Fired and please explain.
Quit after being told they would be fired and please explain.
Left by mutual agreement following charges or allegations of missed conduct and please explain.
Left by mutual agreement following notice of unsatisfactory performance and please explain.
is this person eligible for rehire?
Yes.
No-due to company policy and\or not related to unfavorable employment.
No-for reasons relating to unfavorable employment.
Do you have any reason to question this person’s honesty or trustworthiness?
No
Yes and please explain.
I do not know this person well enough to respond.
I wish to discuss the adverse information I have.
Do you have any adverse information about this person’s employment, residence or activities concerning:
Violations of the law?
Finances?
Abuse of alcohol?
Abuse\illegal use of drugs?
Mental or emotional stability?
General behavior or conduct?
Other matters?
Please let us know if you wish to discuss the adverse information that you have and please explain any yes answers to any of the above.
Also note that it allows the previous employer to attach any records or documents it may have about a security clearance applicant’s previous employment at that company. In addition, it also provides this statement: “Additional information which you feel may have a bearing on this person’s eligibility for employment or security clearance. This space may be used to provide derogatory as well as positive information, to request confidentiality, and/or to request a copy of the consent.”
Finally, the previous employer is asked this question:
“Do you recommend this person for eligibility for employment or security clearance?
Yes
No
I don’t know this person well enough to make a recommendation.
As you can see, there is a lot of far-reaching information that is requested and, if you have had difficulty or an issue with a previous employer from the past ten years, there is a very easy way for you to run into trouble when completing the SF86. I always advise my clients to be very careful, methodical and detailed when answering this section on the e-Qip. Sloppy, careless, or fraudulent answers here could very well result in someone never being awarded the security clearance.
If you are in the process of having to complete an initial or renewal sf 86 form through e-Qip, and you have questions or concerns about how to disclose your previous employment, please reach out to me immediately BEFORE you answer those questions. A consultation with me is protected under the attorney-client privilege and only you and I will know what we discuss. To that end, I strongly recommend that you do not discuss any security concerns with your chain of command, civilian supervisors, or anyone else since, reporting any type of potential issue to anyone else, may require them to forward that information along to the facility security officer. Before you decide to do anything like that, and if you think you have an issue that needs to be disclosed either on the SF 86 form or by self-reporting, let’s discuss it first before you do anything in a meeting (by phone or in person) protected by the attorney-client privilege so that we know exactly what all of the issues are and we can ensure that, together, we can control the narrative of exactly what you are reporting or answering. Please feel free to contact me by phone or text at 256-713-0221 or by email at rsykstus@bondnbotes.com if you would like to discuss any concerns that you have regarding your clearance. My goal is to put any security clearance issue and concern that you may have to rest at the earliest and lowest possible level.
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