How to force a former employer to reply to a letter?

Wonka_2

a) you’ve no leverage to get them to respond to you (and investing in a solicitor isn’t going to change that)

b) assuming what they wrote is factually correct or, depending on the industry, is open to interpretation then you’re never going to know what their intention was. 

Given you know what they wrote then next time you apply for a job don’t use them as a referee 

elsien

If the comment is very non-specific, it seems unlikely that that on its own would prevent preventing another employer from taking you on.
And nothing you can do to force  them to respond.

Marcon

Brie said:

Would a Subject Access Request work?

Depends if the reference was given in confidence. Confidential references aren't disclosable even if a SAR is made requesting them.

Marcon

anon200 said:

I need to write to a former employer to ask them to clarify a comment in a reference they did for me, after the comment resulted in a job offer being withdrawn. It seems likely the employer will fail to respond to my letter, since their reply may enable me to take legal action against them (which is hardly in their interest).

Is there anything I can say in the letter that will force them to respond? Will I have to get a solicitor to write to them on my behalf instead and will the solicitor be able to force them to respond? How much is such a solicitor's letter likely to cost me?

I would rather write the letter myself since using a solicitor will cost hundreds of pounds.

OP - if you can't afford a solicitor (as opposed to simply preferring to save money, which is understandable!), have a look at https://www.lawworks.org.uk/legal-advice-individuals/find-legal-advice-clinic-near-you and see if there is a law clinic near you, or one which operates by telephone or Teams call and would cover your question.

elsien

Little point doing a SAR when the OP already knows what the reference says. The issue seems to be with the interpretation.

Savvy_Sue

I can't see that you can force an employer to clarify a general comment. And it may be that on reading the general comment, someone picked up the phone and asked what was meant (or even "Does this mean what I think it means?"

elsien

“ I would have no hesitation in my decision about employing this person again”

No one in their right mind is going to clarify something like that If it actually means if they wouldn’t touch you with a barge pole. 

Wonka_2

elsien said:

“ I would have no hesitation in my decision about employing this person again”

No one in their right mind is going to clarify something like that If it actually means if they wouldn’t touch you with a barge pole. 

The joys of the English language and getting your point across without actually saying what you mean 😉

MyRealNameToo

elsien said:

“ I would have no hesitation in my decision about employing this person again”

No one in their right mind is going to clarify something like that If it actually means if they wouldn’t touch you with a barge pole. 

But the statement is totally ambiguous, all you can tell is its one extreme or the other.

Generally people dont write negative references because it exposes them to the risk of challenge which even if they win will be costly defending and there is absolutely no benefit to the former employer to warn another firm about a potentially poor employee. The one exception to this is tiny firms without proper HR departments where an individual manager's pettiness may come across in a reference. 

The general rule of thumb is to refuse to give a reference if you dont want to give a good/neutral reference and people will interpret that as a bad reference. There are a small number of industries where thats not allowed and so most in those stick to the bare facts of start date, end date and job title on leaving. 

Undervalued

Brie said:

Would a Subject Access Request work?

Probably not.

At one time the OP would have been able to make a SAR to the recipient of the reference.

However, as I understand it, the law now gives more protection to references given in confidence so cannot normally be disclosed.