to ask our former-employee's new employer if they were given a reference purporting to be from us.

[namelessposter]

Abridged back story: a former sales employee of ours left at the end of Oct on civil terms, after a year of OK (but not great) performance, telling us they were planning on leaving the country to stay with family, and not returning to the industry.

3 weeks later, they have just turned up in an equivalent role with a competitor about 2 miles away. As they are entitled to do.

BUT on their last day with us, they sent an email to their personal mail, with a blank copy of our company headed paper. Then deleted all their sent mail and logged off.

We restore any mail deleted by exiting employees from back-ups as a matter of course, hence why we know this.

Their new employer didn't approach us for a reference. The employee was with us for 14 months, and that they worked with us is well referenced in the public domain. The new employer is a big company, so seems unlikely that their HR dept wouldn't have asked for references. The employee had form for lying to clients (and we are currently clearing up a couple of messes they left behind in this respect, which have come to light after she's left).

Would you ask the new employer if they were given a written reference on our headed paper, purporting to be from us, and if so, let them know it's a fake?

If the reference gives a glowing report of the employee and they turn out to be shit, their new employer will think your company can't be much cop.

No they'll just think OP's company wanted to get rid of her and gave a good reference to help her on her way.

Perhaps if the headed paper was the only issue, but when put together with the lying to clients, lying to you about why she was leaving, lack of reference request and the email from the client to her after she'd gone, then there are grounds to suspect misuse, if she wanted to keep a record of the company's details she could have held on to her contract of employment, business card, payslips, P60s.

Or noting down the details from the website
OR FROM someone's email signature

Tbh emailing myself a sheet of headed notepaper would be the last method I'd think of

Aerminger, I understand about the now non-existant companies, but the information on the headed paper is no more useful than employees own notes of the same information.

If it was a civil leaving of a job.. And maybe if it wasn't . Why you do feel the need to try and ruin someone's life? I'm not saying it's right what's she's done but if her current employers are happy what is it to you? It their checks not yours.

Just believe in karma, not poke it xx

Did your former employee sign an agreement to say it was ok to read their emails? Otherwise you are on very dodgy ground.

Just speak to the client who sent the email that brought this to your attention and find out how they discovered ex employee was at competitor.

If they already used the competitor then fine. If they got an email on headed paper then you've got a starting point for approaching the ex employee...

AramintaDeWinter No they don't have an absolute right to do that.

This is what the Information Commissioner advises for example:

^"Be particularly careful when monitoring communications, such as e-mails,
that are clearly personal. Avoid wherever possible opening e-mails,
especially those that clearly show they are private or personal. Monitor the
message’s address or heading only."^

An email to an address the employer knew was personal, should not normally be opened, of course there are other reasons (detection of crime for example) which may make it acceptable in this instance, but the OP's information provided here didn't make any suggestion that that was the case, it as suggested that it was just routine to undelete and read all emails of ex-employees.

Given that I doubt the employees were informed that sort of monitoring would happen, it's not worth the risk to the business of doing anything about it when there are simply no potential upsides to the business here of doing anything but forgetting about the employee.

I wouldn't bother - you're clearly well shot of a not great employee! I always think it's funny that people worry about getting a bad reference. the worse someone was the more important to give a reasonable reference so you're definitely well shot of them!

I would just leave it to be honest. If they had requested a reference from you it would have been an acceptable one.
Very Machiavellian of your former employee, and more fool the new employer for not doing better checks. You are well rid of them.

I employ people and have never phoned to check a reference is real. We ask for references, by email and/or letter, but I have not once (nor has the LA HR dept) checked that they are who they claim to be from.

"Why you do feel the need to try and ruin someone's life? I'm not saying it's right what's she's done but if her current employers are happy what is it to you? It their checks not yours. Just believe in karma, not poke it xx"

Jeez, LilMissConcerned, what an incredibly passive view of "karma". If nobody ever says anything when someone else fies does somerhing wrong, how exactly is "karma" supposed to operate?

As for all the worry about reading an employee's email, if it's in the IT policy and if, moreover, the email hsd been deleted, signalling subterfuge, those are the facts to present to the company's legal counsel, without fear.

Unless they broke the law whilst working for you.
Yabvu. Keep out, you appear nosey and unprofessional otherwise.
It's up to them to verify references not you.