Employment reference

swanvill

Hi,
Can an employer withdraw a written work reference?
If yes under what circumstance can they legally do it?

The_Morrigan

They are under no obligation to provide one in the first place, it is entirely discretionary on their part.

swanvill

Thanks The Morrigan,
What if they provide one in writing and then decided they wanted to withdraw it, could it be done? Have you heard of this been done before?
As an example let say the reference said the person was diligent & thorough, after they left you found half of their work was not done well and had to be redone by another?

The_Morrigan

swanvill wrote: »

Thanks The Morrigan,
What if they provide one in writing and then decided they wanted to withdraw it, could it be done? Have you heard of this been done before?
As an example let say the reference said the person was diligent & thorough, after they left you found half of their work was not done well and had to be redone by another?

Was the written reference handed over to the employee to use in a job search or was it provided to an agency/potential employer on request?

To be honest I've never encountered any references which were personalised like that, most references just confirm the dates of employment and any roles undertaken at the company (i.e. personal assistant to the director of paperclips).
Most HR depts will just confirm these details over the phone/email if a job is offered to one of their ex employees. Stating anything negative can leave them open to defamation and refusing to give a reference will set off alarm bells.

swanvill

Thanks but in the past I have always received a written reference highlighting my positive attributes & contributions to the enterprise.
I guess I must be archaic?

The_Morrigan

swanvill wrote: »

Thanks but in the past I have always received a written reference highlighting my positive attributes & contributions to the enterprise.
I guess I must be archaic?

Society has changed, people don't always take pride in their work - it's a means to an end; couple that with the fact that society has become more litigious, and people are not as loyal as they used to be. Employers are no longer small national or local businesses relying on local staff that were well known to everyone, now we have multinationals who barely know the names of their workforce, so people can take the mick and not do a stellar job.

Mr. Loverman

If they want the reference back, just give it back to them. Otherwise the company will hate you and you'll be using a "fake" reference. Perhaps make an agreement with them that they write a new, neutral or semi-positive reference.

Mrs OBumble

Written references aren't worth a thing.

What counts are referees: people who agree to let you give their name and phone number to potential employers, and to take phone calls about you. These are real references. And of course what they say may change based on evidence that cones to light after you leave.

A certificate of service is a letter saying that you worked for company X from date1 to date2 as a Whatever. These generally don't have any subjective statements in them, and it wouldn't make sense to withdraw them - because you did work there.

tenifan

swanvill wrote: »

As an example let say the reference said the person was diligent & thorough, after they left you found half of their work was not done well and had to be redone by another?

if the person who wrote the reference actually thought the person was diligent and thorough:
#1 the person who wrote the reference is incompetent themselves
#2 the person who took over the job is blaming all the problems on the last guy (they're hardly going to blame the incompetent manager)

Beano

tenifan wrote: »

if the person who wrote the reference actually thought the person was diligent and thorough:
#1 the person who wrote the reference is incompetent themselves
#2 the person who took over the job is blaming all the problems on the last guy (they're hardly going to blame the incompetent manager)

Or maybe the person that left was really good at hiding it.

swanvill

Thanks all for your comments, they have been interesting & informative. For the record my example was just that, an example and not the real issue.