Re: Employer References & Law Suits

[Jordan <mendel@gnv.fdt.net>]

Sandy Perle wrote:
> 
> As a supervisor at FPL I was often asked to provide references for a
> current employee or a previous employee. Our Human Resouces
> Department held many training classes stating that we were not
> allowed, by law, to provide any negative information regarding the
> employee, that we could be sued for discrimination and harassmant, if
> the employee was not offered the position. Now we have a case,
> recently upheld by the Calif. Supreme Court that states that if
> "negative" information isn't provided to prospective employers, that
> you can be sued! This is a 180 degree turn-about. I am providing this
> article for information and enlightenment. We, in the nuclear
> industry, could fall under this, especially if it is adopted by many
> other states. We deal with drug testing, MMPI testing, etc.

If you know only good things about your employee, writing a reference
based on their employment while in your department can be valuable to
someone trying to get an interview.

Never write a glowing letter of reference for someone you would not
rehire.  It will cause someone else with good character to be passed
over.  Supervisors often place high reguard on written references.


As a HR Specialist/Generalist I have called on hundereds of past
employment verifications.  The current standard is to refer the call to
the human resources department, who in turn only provide dates of
employment and position held.  90% of larger companies practice this
extremely well because they are able to train their supervisors
consistently.  But even among large companies, Supervisors will often
stumble over the question, "Is the person elegible for rehire?".  The
question is often not addressed directly in supervisor training yet, if
answered, can provide significant info.  You are not required to answer
this question by any law and should refer it to HR.


Refering the call to HR protects you and the company. First, you are not
involved.  Second, the HR department will handle appropriatly according
to the current trend.

Except for Workman's compensation settlements, our employees are always
elegible for rehire because individual supervisors does not make that
decision for other supervisors.


Disclosure of dates and positon only is considered neutral.  Negative
reference is never disclosed to an applicant, they are only informed
that another applicant has been chosen if they are not selected.

Applicants rarely know their actual dates of past employment that you
have on file, so variances of up to a 1.5 months are negligable, at
about 2 months I would advise a hired employee to check the dates and
revise their resume.

Standard Disclaimer
-- 


***************************************
* Virgil A. Jordan                    *
* Nuclear Engineer/Tech for hire      *
* HR Specialist, Columbia HealthCare  *
* mendel@gnv.fdt.net                  *
***************************************