To be honest in my reference letter?

[IamAporcupine]

I have been asked to provide a reference letter for an employee who recently left my team. She has already been offered a new job in a completely different field. This is fortunate as her performance in her previous role was very poor; we lost time and money thanks to her lack of skills.

The form has a "would you re-employ this person?" I want to be honest and just say "No". I can explain that I believe this field of work was not for her, and that she will very likely perform well in her new job.

AIBU?

Have you checked your company policy to confirm you’re even permitted to answer these? Many companies get HR to give a factual dates reference only. Assuming you are confident that you can answer it, do you have data/evidence of your performance management/the poor conduct (delete as applicable) to support this? As pp have said, you could be sued so I’d honestly think carefully or decline to give the reference.

This

This. She could have genuinely found a role that’s a better fit, or she could have been badly managed, I’ve seen so many people that were in the wrong role for years and didn’t apply themselves then went on to do other things and are thriving.

When I say be honest. Just say you wouldn't employ them again. Don't elaborate.

Leaving it blank possibly invites suspicion too so it’s a hard one.

Years ago a few of us overheard a manager giving a verbal reference for a colleague who had recently left (managed out due to poor performance), and she said loudly “well, if you expect her to use her brain then she’s not the employee for you.”

We were horrified. We knew she made a lot of mistakes but she was a lovely person, a team player, tried hard but our role was just too complex for her, but in the right role she would be able to do so much better. There are ways of giving constructive feedback for former employees that isn’t outright nasty and will destroy future employment opportunities.

If you were hiring her would you want her ex employer to be honest? Would it have saved you a load of hassle?

Where i work we refer all references to HR to repond to.
A 'personal' email may be unreliably supplied by a friend or inconsistent...

What does it do for you to give a bad impression of her to her new employer? If she had been dishonest e.g. stealing then it would be fair to warn them but if not you’re just being spiteful.

Personally I would contact the ex employee and say you’d prefer not to give a reference. That makes refers the problem back to her to find an alternative. If she doesn’t, then I think you have to complete it honestly.

As others have said, some employers have a policy not to provide references so I would check this first (and this would be ideal in your position).

Maybe things have changed since I left HR 4yrs ago but I didnt think you could give a negative reference and all you are obliged to do is give dates of employment? Why are they asking, that seems like a tribunal waiting to happen.

@IamAporcupine you said you lost time and money due to her lack of skills. This isn’t actually her fault, it’s the person who hired her for the role.

I would write yes to rehiring, to help her move into a field where she may excel.

They have left your organisation, sounds like the job/organisation and her were not well matched. Don’t be spiteful and jeopardise her future career. Just tick yes and move on.

Do you not have a HR dept?
As an ex HR advisor I would be fuming having management writing references for people that would put the company at risk of legal claims. You need to check your company policy on this and no you shouldn't try and fuck up someone's life because you've got nothing better to do that day.

Leave it blank. To be honest many references just confirm dates they worked for you nowadays.

DH owned a limited business and several years ago we dismissed a fairly new starter for persistent absenteeism (failed to turn up at least one day every week for the 6 weeks he worked for us).

Some time later the local council sent me a form to fill in about him and I did the courtesy of ringing to say I wasn't prepared to give him a reference. The woman kept insisting I needed to fill the form in and I kept saying I wasn't prepared to waste any of my time doing this - I was declining to give him a reference and I was simply doing them the courtesy of letting them know.

She got really huffy about it, but I wasn't prepared to recommend him, and I wasn't prepared to spend any of my precious time writing forms up to say why not.

This comes up on every similar thread, and unless HR are spineless enough to ban it you can be completely honest in a reference - providing it is honest

Don't fill it in, don't be spiteful. She's left now, just forget it.

The question is being asked because the prospective new employer wants a factual answer. It’s not spiteful in the least to respond honestly to this.

I would be very interested to see how that panned out, as there is nothing unlawful about telling the truth.

For me the reference should be ready as would your company hire her again rather than would you personally hire her again. Just tick yes and move on

I don’t know the full details, but the organisation I work for was in some way punished (whether that was sued, employment tribunal etc) for a member of staff providing what in their eyes was a honest review (that was not positive of the persons ability) of someone’s ability to do the job to another employer requesting a reference for the person(who got the bad reference). Therefore all reference request have to go to hr and its dates only.

This.

References are such a weird idea when you think about it- I have a friend who when he resigned his boss begged him to stay and when he refused the boss bad mouthed him throughout the industry including every reference/ enquiry. That was a man with 3 young children out of work for 15 months before someone gave him
a chance.

as someone said above, companies should trust their own recruitment processes enough to select the right Person.

also the expectation of references is weird- it’s work that the company is not paying for. Why should a private enterprise waste time and resource providing references? What’s in it for them? Yet if they don’t, they’re in a situation where a previous employee won’t get a job.

i also think it’s shocking that people would say no on the form- saying it makes them unprofessional not to- does it bollocks. Imagine someone not being able to get a job and therefore income to live thanks to you. I couldn’t live with myself.

You need to be quite careful.

These sorts of things often involve some degree of subjectivity or judgement, and if you can't back up/substantiate things you say & you damage her career prospects you could find yourself in legal trouble.

This is a god response. Also was she polite, hard working , in time etc
If so could you aay that too something like
X was hard working, enthusiastic, and a good team player I would employ her again in a different role because her previous role wasn't suitable for her.

That is so vague as to be completely unhelpful.