I thought bad references were illegal?!

nathand_2

What's the point in references if it's impossible to get a bad one? It's like eBay and forced positive feedback for sellers.

I'm certainly not suggesting the OP deserved it but what I am saying is there are some employees who are truly terrible. Surely it can't be illegal or immoral to warn potential employers away from them.

kiwi07

nathand wrote: »

What's the point in references if it's impossible to get a bad one? It's like eBay and forced positive feedback for sellers.

I'm certainly not suggesting the OP deserved it but what I am saying is there are some employees who are truly terrible. Surely it can't be illegal or immoral to warn potential employers away from them.

What to do if your previous employer continue giving you bad reference and prevent you from finding a new job? It can be very devastating...

Alias_Omega

If your honest in the interview, and empty the closet of skeletons i cannot see why a bad reference is a problem.

Surely potential will soar over past performance?

dandelionclock30

"]If your honest in the interview, and empty the closet of skeletons i cannot see why a bad reference is a problem.

Surely potential will soar over past performance?"

I hear what your saying but a lot of employers will side with the previous employer and err on the side of caution.Obviously there are two sides to every story and even when someone has done something really bad at work like stealing or having a fight,I still dont think they deserve to be written off for life employment wize.

Also its very difficult in interviews explaining complicated discliplinaries etc. Any employer when given a choice I believe will not employ someone who has just been dismissed or with a recent criminal record.

I think its terrible if an employer effectively stops a person from earning a living from a poor reference. At the end of the day people will f up because thats life but to ruin someones future is in my opinion really malicious.

SarEl

dandelionclock30 wrote: »

"]

I think its terrible if an employer effectively stops a person from earning a living from a poor reference. At the end of the day people will f up because thats life but to ruin someones future is in my opinion really malicious.

And what do you think is the alternative? To refuse a reference? To write a good reference when it isn't true?

It is not malicious to write a truthful reference. If an employer decides that they will provide references they are just as much required to tell the potential employer the truth as they are to tell the truth about the employee. It is not just employees who can sue for false or misleading statements - so can employers.

jdp1970

dandelionclock30 wrote: »

"]if your honest in the interview, and empty the closet of skeletons i cannot see why a bad reference is a problem.

Surely potential will soar over past performance?"

i hear what your saying but a lot of employers will side with the previous employer and err on the side of caution.obviously there are two sides to every story and even when someone has done something really bad at work like stealing or having a fight,i still dont think they deserve to be written off for life employment wize.

Also its very difficult in interviews explaining complicated discliplinaries etc. Any employer when given a choice i believe will not employ someone who has just been dismissed or with a recent criminal record.

I think its terrible if an employer effectively stops a person from earning a living from a poor reference. At the end of the day people will f up because thats life but to ruin someones future is in my opinion really malicious.

hear hear!

dandelionclock30

What I think they should do is just provide a basic reference and say its company policy to provide no more etc. I think the "truth" is very black and white anyway.Thats what a lot of companies do now anyway.

What do you think an employee should do if they have a bad reference?

SarEl

dandelionclock30 wrote: »

What I think they should do is just provide a basic reference and say its company policy to provide no more etc. I think the "truth" is very black and white anyway.Thats what a lot of companies do now anyway.

What do you think an employee should do if they have a bad reference?

I think that it depends on what is meant by a bad reference.

If the reference is truthful then they should mitigate it by explaining - plenty of people do manage to get jobs having made mistakes. Some companies may accept basic references - many do not. I don't.

Jaydles

I used to write employee references at my previous job and we had a template to protect against potential lawsuits. It basically said Name, Position Held, Dates of Employment, Number of Sick Days and a Yes/No option for any disciplinary action. That was it no explanation or extra opinion on the employee, which I suppose could be either a good or bad thing depending on their circumstances.

I do agree that employers should be able to truthfully fill in a reference otherwise what's the point in having one at all but just facts not opinion would be a good idea.

dandelionclock30

A lot of companies have policies in place regarding employment of new people and they say things along the lines of .. we must have receipt of 2 satisfactory references one of which must be your present or most recent employer. How then would any type of explanation help, if the answer based on the policies would still be no? A H.R person will not go against their employers policies will they?