Work references

janetannhd

Whats is on a work reference

elsien

They can give factually accurate references, whether negative or not, so yes they can say you were suspended pending investigation. Disciplinary action is a question that some employers specifically ask about on the reference form, so they're not going to lie and say no.
You can request they give a reference just confirming the dates that you worked there, which is some companies policy anyway. Whether they accommodate that in part would depend on the state of relations when you left, I suspect.
Having said that, if I got a reference that was just limited to dates I would phone and check if it was general company policy, or specific to that individual. Then draw my own conclusions.
Can you do short term temp or voluntary work so that that reference wouldn't be your most recent employer?

[Deleted User]

Unfortunately your former employer can write what they want, as long as it's not defamatory.

If you know somebody in the company who can vouch for you, give him/her as a reference instead.

elsien

ciaccino wrote: »

Unfortunately your former employer can write what they want, as long as it's not defamatory.

If you know somebody in the company who can vouch for you, give him/her as a reference instead.

If they're allowed to do that. My company had a policy that only specific people could write work references. Other employees could do a personal reference if they wished but it wouldn't count as the employer reference.

DKLS

The last request I had was this:

"xxxx xxxxxxxx has been successful in securing a position with one of our clients. xxxx has highlighted yourself as a referee. Please can you confirm the below on letter headed paper, or from a verified email (please ensure this includes your Job Title, and contact details)

Dates of employment (DD/MM/YYYY Format)
Start date
End date
Company Name
Job Title
Reason for Leaving"

Takeaway_Addict

ciaccino wrote: »

Unfortunately your former employer can write what they want, as long as it's not defamatory.

If you know somebody in the company who can vouch for you, give him/her as a reference instead.

Shocking that an employer can tell the truth....

solentsusie

Takeaway_Addict wrote: »

Shocking that an employer can tell the truth....

I know of someone who had a job offer rescinded because the ex manager answered 'no' to the question 'would you employ this person again'. It was all down to personality clashes not that the person asking for the reference couldn't do their job efficiently. The manager, who by company policy the reference had to come from, was a real bully and nasty piece of work. The ex employee then wrote to the CEO of the company that they had left because of the reference and losing the job because of it. Ex boss at least ended up on a disciplinary.

Depends I suppose on what you consider 'truth' to be...

[Deleted User]

Takeaway_Addict wrote: »

Shocking that an employer can tell the truth....

Yes, they can tell the truth but they need to have evidence to back it up. You can say that your former employee has stolen from the company but if you can't prove it, it's defamation.

solentsusie wrote: »

I know of someone who had a job offer rescinded because the ex manager answered 'no' to the question 'would you employ this person again'. It was all down to personality clashes not that the person asking for the reference couldn't do their job efficiently. The manager, who by company policy the reference had to come from, was a real bully and nasty piece of work.

A manager behaving like that is not even that smart. If I wanted to get rid of an employee, I'd give them the best possible references, so that I would offload them to the competition.

If anything, I'd be suspicious when somebody get excellent references. This would raise the question: if he/she was so good, why did you let them run away?

bluenoseam

solentsusie wrote: »

I know of someone who had a job offer rescinded because the ex manager answered 'no' to the question 'would you employ this person again'. It was all down to personality clashes not that the person asking for the reference couldn't do their job efficiently. The manager, who by company policy the reference had to come from, was a real bully and nasty piece of work. The ex employee then wrote to the CEO of the company that they had left because of the reference and losing the job because of it. Ex boss at least ended up on a disciplinary.

Depends I suppose on what you consider 'truth' to be...

But for every one of those managers there's a manager who will be truthful & say "no" because the person they're writing the reference for was not suitable. After all, that manager's position was that they were asked a question, namely "would you employ this person again?" and they answered it.

What takeaway addict said was 100% correct, the referee can write whatever they want so long as it's true & often to avoid potential trouble reference requests will be "fact based". To be fair though a lot of people these days just state a start & end date to avoid any potential comebacks as well.

Voltaire7

ciaccino wrote: »

Yes, they can tell the truth but they need to have evidence to back it up. You can say that your former employee has stolen from the company but if you can't prove it, it's defamation.


A manager behaving like that is not even that smart. If I wanted to get rid of an employee, I'd give them the best possible references, so that I would offload them to the competition.

If anything, I'd be suspicious when somebody get excellent references. This would raise the question: if he/she was so good, why did you let them run away?

You've either worked for some crappy people, or you're a crappy boss / employee.

Someone with excellent references must be a rubbish worker because the boss is desperate to get rid of them? What a strange view of employment you have,

makeyourdaddyproud

Takeaway_Addict wrote: »

Shocking that an employer can tell the truth....

They can also tell the truth on positive things; say you were involved in a project that brought revenue to the company, then the reference could include that thus:

Connie Mann worked at ZZZ Ltd from XXX to YYY and has brought revenue to our business through project 1234 blah blah...

That would be factual.

It would be against the law to include something on reference that could impinge on an employees right to find work, and that would include a bad reference truthful or otherwise.

I would definately sue.