Reference request

[Foxglove]

I have been asked to provide references for a person who left our company some months ago. He was an absolute menace. He lied, caused trouble and we have a suspicion (not proved) that he did some petty pilfering: taking from his colleagues. He has apparently decided to try the army. Why on earth he has given my name (I was his line manager) is beyond me. I have heard that some people have been sued after giving a negative reference - can I either ignore the request completely or just say that I am unable to provide a reference and leave it at that? What's the world coming to when you can't call a spade a spade if you know what I mean.

[mystress]

Foxglove,

I think Andy has hit the nail on the head!

The reason for being unable to give Negative Reference is, because some good employees(who were leaving/had left) got Bad References from disgruntled Employers.I realise that in your case this is exactly the opposite,but the rule still applies.

As Andy says,refusing to give a reference says far more than a bad one ever could!

[mystress]

PS All you are legally obliged to provide,is this persons dates of employment with you.

[MargeB]

You can give a negative reference if you are able to demonstrate that this person did the things which you believe he has done. If you can coroborate this information, go ahead. Why would you want to provide them with this information?

[dmsjps]

I agree that refusing to provide a reference says it all, but when one of my ex-bosses left the company I worked for, they made him work out his month's notice on his own in the boardroom (this was 20 years ago), then did that to him. They were so scared of losing him because he was s*** hot and he was going to a competitor that they tried to ruin his career by doing that.

 

So it won't always be taken in the way it's meant, but it's probably all you can do under the circumstances, unless - as MargeB suggests - you are able to show the reasons for calling a spade a spade.

 

Why he'd want to join the army if that's the kind of person he is, I don't know. Maybe it will be the kick up the backside he needs! Plus, once he's properly signed up, he's stuck there unless he wants to be arrested!

[MargeB]

Ya, it's how libel law works...the 'accuser' has to demonstrate that it's true. Otherwise..���.

Sounds like the guy may have been as much the victim of office squabbling as a 'crime'. Maybe best to let him get on with his life?

[mats01_99]

OK, he was a menace when he worked with you but there will be nothing like the army to sort him out, so maybe give him a half decent reference this time around.

[4possumkids]

My partner and I have had over 30 years combined experience in recruitment and apart from having done countless reference checks, we are also references for numerous people we have supervised and employed over the years.

We have come across this one many times before, and our advice is to be honest whilst obviously protecting yourself from the dangers of saying something libellous.

Taking what info you have provided at face value, and if you believe your word is important and that the Army (or whomever) trust YOUR judgement, then really you have an ethical responsibility to be honest as possible.

So, to any question that may mean you cannot answer fully eg "Is he trustworthy?", you could answer. "I will not answer that", whilst to "Was he punctual?" You could say, "Yes, he rarely turned up late", if that was the case.

Professional recruitment staff can read between the lines pretty well and will appreciate what you are AND what you are not saying.

If in doubt of which way to go, just imagine how you would feel if you were asking the questions about someone you were thinking of employing and you got a reasonably positive ref and the person turned out to be a monster - because someone told you a load of cobblers.

Finally, ref checks are usually the final or close to it check in a sequence of methods used in recruiting and often the not-so-good staff have already bombed before then or the recruiter asks the questions and is not surprised by the non-positive responses.

Good luck!

[Pinotage]

Answer in writing to confirm dates of employment. Phone the person who sent the reference and spak to them 'off the record'

[Foxglove]

Thank you for all your excellent advice. I will do as 4possumkids advises.