Just another week in Human Resources... We have an employee who was fired claiming to have been laid off. Another employee who left with no notice thinks we should give her a positive reference. A third at a client company is unhappy because the client's policy about references is to confirm dates of employment but provide little additional information.
In this economic climate, job searchers want love from their former employers. But, often there is a reason why they are a former employer. I've written a lot about providing references this year. It's a tough topic during a tough time. You can compare your workplace with the workplaces of other readers in my poll.
Recently, a client company received a reference request for a former employee who had not done well in her most recent job. Yet, in earlier roles with the company, she had apparently performed well. This sparked the question about how to respond to a request for a reference. After typing about a five paragraph response, it dawned on me that I needed to make this question into an article since I covered the topic of reference checking nowhere else on my site.
Responding to a reference check request can be tricky. Fear of reprisal and lawsuits keep many employers from responding at all. These reference check recommendations will help you respond reasonably to reference checking requests while protecting the legitimate interests of your company and your current employees.
Am I on target with my recommendations? And, if you don't have a workplace reference checking policy, what do you do when you receive a request? Please respond in "comments."
More Reference Checking Resources
- Prep Your References for a Reference Check
- Reference Checking Format
- Manage Social Media Job References
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My husband is a web developer for a company in the Lansing, MI area, but is looking for a new position. What is the protocol for providing employment references, without jeopardizing your current job? He is ready to move to a more challenging environment, but the job market in Michigan is very difficult right now. He is concerned that potential employers (understandably wanting to learn more about his skills and work history) doing employment checks, will alert his employer to his active job search and create a potentially awkward situation. Do you have any advice?
Dates of employment and title only without a written release. With a release we will report circumstances of departure. CEO (we’re small) must approve all written references. There are no “To whom it may concern” letters.
Hi. I am against references. It is another reason for power abuse and may not be honest. It requires trust if taking references. I used to live in a country where references were not in practice and everything was OK. Every time there is a new relationship formed in each employment. Especially nowadays, when there is conflict of two paradigms in the world what one person think is right is not right for another one.