How to Avoid a Potential Lawsuit When Giving References
Make your employees aware of your policy., Make as few people responsible for giving references as possible., Put requests in writing., Make it quick., Stick to the facts., Give written references instead of phone references., Treat good references...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Make your employees aware of your policy.
As always, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Make sure that you have a standard policy in place for giving references.That way, you can minimize the chances that an employee will even be tempted to bring a suit against you.
Make sure that all relevant personnel, such as HR, are aware of the reference policy from the beginning of their employment with your firm.It’s not a bad idea to give all new hires a quiz on the reference policy.
That way, you can both emphasize its importance and make sure that your employees know the policy backwards and forwards. -
Step 2: Make as few people responsible for giving references as possible.
Another great way to prevent a reference going awry is by designating a few trusted and discrete individuals to give references, and only those individuals.In a lot of ways, this element of your policy just boils down to experience.
The more often an employee gives references, the less likely they are to say the wrong thing.
When an employee is promoted into a position where they would give references, make sure they’re closely supervised for the first several references. , Create a standard form for requesting a reference that you can email any former employees.That way you create a detailed record of each request.
If a prospective employer contacts you requesting a reference about a former employee and the employee hasn’t filled out a request form, politely decline to give the reference and advise the employer of the reason why.
For example: “While I’d be more than happy to give Tom a reference, it’s actually against company policy to provide references without the employee filling out a written request form.
If you’ll have Tom reach out to us, I’d be happy to send him the paperwork.” Be sure to include on the request form a statement about the risks that are inherent in giving out references, and that it is possible that the reference could work to the employee’s disadvantage.
While no form will completely absolve you of liability, advising the employee of the risks inherent to the process will provide an additional level of protection., There is typically little reason to write a lengthy employment reference.
It’s best to keep your references short—the less said, the smaller the possibility of exposing you to liability.Provide dates of employment and the most important details of the employee’s tenure, e.g., their most salient successes and failures.
Try and make sure that you simply answer the questions asked, rather than volunteering a great deal of unsolicited information. , Truth is an absolute defense to defamation.Strive to keep your references objective, factual, and not filled with subjective judgments.
The easiest way to stay factual is to only include what is objectively verifiable, without subjective commentary.
For example, don’t say: “Johnny was a hopeless drug addict,” which is a judgement that could be disputed.
Instead, say “Johnny failed seven consecutive drug tests, three of which he had advance notice of.”Avoid the temptation to attach negative judgments to your objective statements.For example, don’t say: “On three instances, the cash register was short by more than $100 while Jane was responsible for the till.
I really question her honesty.” Leave out the judgement in the second sentence.
The facts speak for themselves. , Unless a phone reference is recorded, the contents are subject to dispute.Since a written record cannot be disputed, you give yourself greater protection from liability by only giving written references. , A lot of employers will be inclined to throw all of the rules out the window when it comes to giving a good reference.
Don’t.If you have a recorded history of giving glowing and highly subjective references to good employees, and then give a laconic reference containing only objective information about a poor employee, the contrast can speak volumes.
While it is unlikely that giving good references will land you hot water, nothing particularly good will come from a deviation from objectivity.
As always, the facts speak for themselves.
A good employee will have objective information in their work history indicative of their talents. -
Step 3: Put requests in writing.
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Step 4: Make it quick.
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Step 5: Stick to the facts.
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Step 6: Give written references instead of phone references.
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Step 7: Treat good references and bad references exactly the same.
Detailed Guide
As always, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Make sure that you have a standard policy in place for giving references.That way, you can minimize the chances that an employee will even be tempted to bring a suit against you.
Make sure that all relevant personnel, such as HR, are aware of the reference policy from the beginning of their employment with your firm.It’s not a bad idea to give all new hires a quiz on the reference policy.
That way, you can both emphasize its importance and make sure that your employees know the policy backwards and forwards.
Another great way to prevent a reference going awry is by designating a few trusted and discrete individuals to give references, and only those individuals.In a lot of ways, this element of your policy just boils down to experience.
The more often an employee gives references, the less likely they are to say the wrong thing.
When an employee is promoted into a position where they would give references, make sure they’re closely supervised for the first several references. , Create a standard form for requesting a reference that you can email any former employees.That way you create a detailed record of each request.
If a prospective employer contacts you requesting a reference about a former employee and the employee hasn’t filled out a request form, politely decline to give the reference and advise the employer of the reason why.
For example: “While I’d be more than happy to give Tom a reference, it’s actually against company policy to provide references without the employee filling out a written request form.
If you’ll have Tom reach out to us, I’d be happy to send him the paperwork.” Be sure to include on the request form a statement about the risks that are inherent in giving out references, and that it is possible that the reference could work to the employee’s disadvantage.
While no form will completely absolve you of liability, advising the employee of the risks inherent to the process will provide an additional level of protection., There is typically little reason to write a lengthy employment reference.
It’s best to keep your references short—the less said, the smaller the possibility of exposing you to liability.Provide dates of employment and the most important details of the employee’s tenure, e.g., their most salient successes and failures.
Try and make sure that you simply answer the questions asked, rather than volunteering a great deal of unsolicited information. , Truth is an absolute defense to defamation.Strive to keep your references objective, factual, and not filled with subjective judgments.
The easiest way to stay factual is to only include what is objectively verifiable, without subjective commentary.
For example, don’t say: “Johnny was a hopeless drug addict,” which is a judgement that could be disputed.
Instead, say “Johnny failed seven consecutive drug tests, three of which he had advance notice of.”Avoid the temptation to attach negative judgments to your objective statements.For example, don’t say: “On three instances, the cash register was short by more than $100 while Jane was responsible for the till.
I really question her honesty.” Leave out the judgement in the second sentence.
The facts speak for themselves. , Unless a phone reference is recorded, the contents are subject to dispute.Since a written record cannot be disputed, you give yourself greater protection from liability by only giving written references. , A lot of employers will be inclined to throw all of the rules out the window when it comes to giving a good reference.
Don’t.If you have a recorded history of giving glowing and highly subjective references to good employees, and then give a laconic reference containing only objective information about a poor employee, the contrast can speak volumes.
While it is unlikely that giving good references will land you hot water, nothing particularly good will come from a deviation from objectivity.
As always, the facts speak for themselves.
A good employee will have objective information in their work history indicative of their talents.
About the Author
Natalie Scott
Specializes in breaking down complex lifestyle topics into simple steps.
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