In a perfect world, a company would be completely filled with well trained employees who are all focused on doing not only their jobs but also anything it takes for the company to excel. Great employees are worth their weight in gold because after all, a company is really only as good as the employees that are working for it. One of the though is that not every employee is perfect for the job and the point will come when they either have to be told they no longer have a job, or they will move on to other employment on their own. While there are good and bad workplace separation situations, it can bring up a difficult moment later on when a future employer calls for a reference check on a former employee.
Depending on the circumstances on how the employee left their previous job, a the former employer may want to go one of two directions when it comes time to giving a reference. An employer looking to help out or aid a former employee who was of value to the company may want to give what would be a glowing reference to their next employer. At the same time, when dealing with a former employee that was either not quite right for the job or purely had a negative impact on the business, the former employer may want to point out the negatives of the employee’s time with the company.
There are a number of things that need to be thought of when it comes time to answer the request of a reference check on a former employee. The former employer needs to be wary of how their comments will be taken and if there is a chance they would be leaving themselves open to a defamation of character lawsuit should the former employee find out about a negative reference given. Because evaluating job performance is a subjective matter, the former employer is giving their opinion on the actions of the former employee. If that opinion inhibits that person from gaining future employment, they may have grounds for legal action against the party giving the negative job review.
Many people then choose to follow a policy of only giving reference checks out for employees that had a positive work experience with them or in their company. The problem here is that courts have decided in the past that giving out no reference check for some former employees, while positive ones for others, is similar to giving a negative review. That being said, having a policy of not answering reference checks at all may be a valid one for anyone concerned with the ramifications of giving out a bad reference check.
An alternative to giving out no reference checks is to be completely honest and only stick to factual information. A reference check like this would consist of the following information; the term of employment of the former employee, the former employee’s job description, the former employee’s salary at the time they started as well as at the time of their departure, and whether they were a full time or part time employee. While this information may not prove to be incredibly valuable to the future employer, it will keep the former employer out of trouble regarding their influence on the future employment opportunities of the former employee.
There are a number of other precautions that an employer can take to protect themselves. They could require that all reference checks be submitted in writing, require former employees to have to give written permission before a reference check will be made, and making sure that all comments made regarding a reference check are job related only and professional in nature. Companies should also have a reference check policy where only certain people in certain management positions are allowed to answer reference checks. One of the best precautions that an employer can take is to only respond to reference checks in writing. This way there is no doubt as to what is being said and the employer is protected from being misquoted at a later date.
Answering reference checks can be risky. Even a positive job review can leave room for a misinterpretation leading to something that was never said unintentionally being used against a former employee who was deserving of positive remarks. The best strategy that an employer can put into place is to answer all reference checks in the same manner and only provide information that relates to the circumstances of the former employee’s employment. This is fair to the former employee looking to move on to another career or employment in a different area, and is also fair to the former employer in that they are protected against possible legal action that could be brought against them.
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