References- How far can we go with them?

Hello All,

Being a HR professional, we are entitled to get and give references in the recruitment field.

Can anyone give me the guidelines on how much and what to include in a reference letter/form and the real purpose of getting reference please?

The reason for me asking the above is, Our JV has a very high employee turnover and I am trying to find out why do people come and leave so quickly?

While doing so, I found that the mangers responsible for recruiting definitely need some training. Also, I advised them to ask for references but I am not sure what to expect in response.

I spend most of my time, carrying probationary dismissal because of this, either they have timing problems, reporting issues, sick leaves, behavioural issues( showing attitude to tenants, swearing over the phone etc). How do we know about all these before they start working for us?

Same way, if we are doing a referral to someone like the above, when they worked for us.. can we include these issues to their proposed employer?

I look forward to your expert advise.

Thank you.

Nisha Assoc CIPD

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  • Hi everyone,
    Also looking for some guidance on references....

    Asking if there are any live warning on file...what is the best way of asking for more information that is still compliant with GDPR if a past employer says yes
    ....
    Any live warnings? If so, please provide a brief description?

    Any advice greatly appreciated!

    Thanks!
    Lorraine
  • Lorraine,

    This is a good reason why I and my other colleagues here prefer the "tombstone" reference: that is, limit the information to the following:

    Confirm they were an employee
    Provide dates of employment
    Provide last job title held
    Confirm (briefly) reason for leaving:
    Resignation, redundancy, dismissal (capability), dismissal (conduct), dismissal (SOSR), resignation pending the outcome of a disciplinary investigation.

    If someone asks me for more information (number of sick days, quality of work, "live" warnings [whatever that means]) I simply ignore them and send the tombstone.

    Contrary to Nisha's opening line, we are not "entitled" to anything. It is curious that, more often that not, references represent us doing uncompensated work on behalf of our competitors, so it's astonishing that we do them at all!
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  • Lorraine,

    This is a good reason why I and my other colleagues here prefer the "tombstone" reference: that is, limit the information to the following:

    Confirm they were an employee
    Provide dates of employment
    Provide last job title held
    Confirm (briefly) reason for leaving:
    Resignation, redundancy, dismissal (capability), dismissal (conduct), dismissal (SOSR), resignation pending the outcome of a disciplinary investigation.

    If someone asks me for more information (number of sick days, quality of work, "live" warnings [whatever that means]) I simply ignore them and send the tombstone.

    Contrary to Nisha's opening line, we are not "entitled" to anything. It is curious that, more often that not, references represent us doing uncompensated work on behalf of our competitors, so it's astonishing that we do them at all!
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