I work at a very large company, and they farm employment recommendations out to a third-party company. If my manager were directly contacted by someone trying to call in a reference I listed, the manager is required by company policy to direct the caller to the third party. All they verify are dates of employment and employment status (so full time, part time, etc). And possibly eligibility for rehire, although I’m not sure about that. Managers are completely forbidden from providing work references or character references for current or past employees. Any manager who does not comply with this policy is putting their own job on the line. This was drilled into our heads when I was trained, and the policy has not changed.
A lot of states have employment reference laws, here is ours.
Bear in mind, the employer is immune from suit unless the Plaintiff, if a claim is made, has the burden of proof the reference what is what is commonly known as being blackballed. Now, while an employer can give a true opinion of the past employee’s work performance, attendance, etc., most choose to give neutral info, this avoids any potential suit, however, a dirty ex employer will do anything they want, period.
http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/4113.71
Ohio here is a one party state, meaning I can record a phone call without the other persons knowledge. I had a friend who ran a business call my ex crum employer to see just what he would say. He followed company policy, which surprised me, and said they were NOT permitted to give out a reference.
There are companies you can hire, as a matter of fact, to pose as a potential employer to see just exactly what is being said if you suspect you are being ratted out.
Also some states have what are known as “Service letter” laws. When terminated you can request, per elements of the statute, why you were terminated. This keeps scum from coming back later to lie. IMO, ALL states should have these.
Oh, I forgot, there is a doctrine known as “truth in hiring”, if Joe is a negligent employee and has say assaulted co-workers etc., and the new company is not told about Joe’s violent history, the OLD company “could” face a lawsuit if the new company or it’s employee (s) are harmed in any way.
Thanks for the clarification, I must have misunderstood because usually I am asked to provide both work references and personal references. I assume the work references are to establish my employment history and the personal references are to establish my overall suitability.
My ex and I used to own a small (5~10 employees) business. When our employees would apply for employment elsewhere, it was typically another local small business. When we were phoned for a reference it seemed the business owner would ask only 3 questions:
Was x employed there?
When was x employed there?
Would you hire him again?
An intentional pause and a terse “no” clearly communicated that they shouldn’t hire him either. No further inquiry. When we phoned to check references (which we seldom did) intonation seemed to say it all.
Absenteeism was our biggest headache, and when asked if we would hires so and so again I would sometimes respond saying: “If they’re willing to commit to a 40 hour work week I’d be happy to have them back!” Point got across.
We gave an absolutely glowing reference if the former employee had shown up close to on-time Monday thru Friday, made an earnest attempt to accomplish assigned duties and hadn’t maliciously damaged or stolen merchandise.
I have never been asked to provide a personal reference - employment references were the only ones requested by and from us.
In 7 years of business I don’t ever recall receiving a written request for references or an inquiry from an HR department.