wasnt asked for a reference but an employee was

duchy

JCD_Capulet wrote: »

I would however take the person who gave the reference into the office and have a word with them about taking mail that isn't addressed to them. Speaking as an ex manager here.

Where does the OP state that this happened ?
Reference was addressed to the referee at the office address it seems so it WAS addressed to them. Of course the question MIGHT be how did the OP find out-was HE opening mail addressed to someone else ?

Incisor

Zazen999 wrote: »

Is the person who gave the reference authorised to do so? Is the reference on file so that you can see it?

I would also have a problem with this, esp if the person giving the reference did not speak to you prior to giving the reference. It is not in the interest of the company to give a reference without consulting the line manager, and whether good or bad, it can have potential consequences for the new company.

Absolutely

I'd ask for a copy of the reference from the person who gave it, and if that is not forthcoming look to the internal disciplinary procedure to address it. I'd then also contact the recruiting manager for a chat about the context of the reference, and then issue a proper reference for that person. Then, the internal management needs to know the procedure for giving references, if you haven't got one, then you need to get one.

I would go along with most of that. But under these circumstances there is no justification to issue another reference. The employee who left and the company who requested the reference did so under an understanding between them in which jasonrat's company is not involved. A reference is a privileged communication, giving certain protections for the person giving a reference. In this case, the new reference is unsolicited so there is no legal protection whatsoever - it could even be argued to be a breach of confidentiality on employment with jasonrat.

As the referee was contacted at the company address and used this as a return address, the only thing to be done is for jasonrat's company to write to the new company, stating that any reference given by 'joe bloggs' is given in his personal capacity and cannot be construed as being XY Technology's view. [That alone should be quite devastating.] If the new company then come back and ask for a new reference, because of the circumstances, jasonrat's company should be very careful to establish that the former employee has given permission to seek such a reference.

jasonrat

Incisor wrote: »

So did the reference go out on XY Technology headed paper? This is the thing you need to be clear about.

So far no reference has been given but it does ask for a company stamp

jasonrat

duchy wrote: »

Have you considered WHY she chose not to name you as the referee ?
Quite honestly as she's left it's not your concern beyond tightening up who can or can't give references within your company.....but it sounds to me like there's more to this story than you are letting on.

O f course I have considered why she chose not to name me as a referee.
she did in fact not turn up to work and resgined her self that day
So i imagine she felt that I couldnt/wouldnt give her a satisfactory reference

jasonrat

duchy wrote: »

Where does the OP state that this happened ?
Reference was addressed to the referee at the office address it seems so it WAS addressed to them. Of course the question MIGHT be how did the OP find out-was HE opening mail addressed to someone else ?

No the colleague is a close friend of mine and did say that he had recieved a reference request

LittleVoice

Reading back through this thread I wonder whether jasonrat was originally asking whether to pass on the information about the reference request to someone in the organisation who should be aware of it.

Actually I would suggest that the person who did receive the request should check with their line manager what the company procedure is and also contact the former employee to be sure that she is happy with it being passed along through the company.

jasonrat

LittleVoice wrote: »

Reading back through this thread I wonder whether jasonrat was originally asking whether to pass on the information about the reference request to someone in the organisation who should be aware of it.

Actually I would suggest that the person who did receive the request should check with their line manager what the company procedure is and also contact the former employee to be sure that she is happy with it being passed along through the company.

thankyou
i am their line manager i have 9 employees and as such we don't have a level of hierachy apart from me my partner as managers and then my staff. it is a small company
to be honest I don't really see this going further because this colleague has refused to complete the reference
but I find it odd where she could have had a fair and just reference from myself rather than an unqualified reference from a former colleague.
I imagine she's going to be the one missing out although I bear no grudges with her walking out and I have done so once in the past also.
thanks for all your advice

Zazen999

jasonrat wrote: »

thankyou
i am their line manager i have 9 employees and as such we don't have a level of hierachy apart from me my partner as managers and then my staff. it is a small company
to be honest I don't really see this going further because this colleague has refused to complete the reference
but I find it odd where she could have had a fair and just reference from myself rather than an unqualified reference from a former colleague.
I imagine she's going to be the one missing out although I bear no grudges with her walking out and I have done so once in the past also.
thanks for all your advice

If he has refused to complete a reference, and you would have completed a fair reference; then no harm done. Why doesn't the company just complete a good reference for her and be done with it?

duchy

Zazen999 wrote: »

If he has refused to complete a reference, and you would have completed a fair reference; then no harm done. Why doesn't the company just complete a good reference for her and be done with it?

Indeed that seems fair-especially if the other person had said they would give her a reference and is now refusing to-presumably because of the fuss this seems to have caused

Savvy_Sue

Unless you have a very good reason for the company NOT to give a reference, why not send one from whoever would normally do it? "In response to your letter of X date to my colleague Y I am writing to give a reference for Z as her previous line manager."

If you say nothing more than "Z worked for us from this date to that date" it's better than a refusal to give a reference. If they're asking specific questions, answer them!