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?

For goodness sake. The point of this question is not a pedantic ‘would you employ again in the very specific role you had her in’, it’s a general question about the person’s employability.

OP, you seem to think this person was a good employee on the wrong role.

So answer in the spirit of the question and just say yes.

Don’t pedantically say ‘no’ and hide behind ‘ I was just being honest’ nonsense.

It’s beyond awful to ruin this person’s chance of a job on pedantry. It’s a really hard job market at the moment.

Unless she was sacked, then she was good enough to work for them, so her reference should reflect that.

Don’t deny her the chance of making a fresh start. Either don’t provide the reference at all or answer YES

How is it pedantry? OP would not employ the individual again. Of course not - she cost the company time & money.

She’s completely correct to be honest, if that’s her preference.

No response IS a response. Leave it blank.

I'd do this too.

Fire brigade only confirm dates of employment. Nothing else.

Or so I was told.

Every employer i have worked for the last decade sends a standard response " Joan was employed from x date to y date and resigned. We do not comment on performance of employees, unless termination was a result of gross misconduct."

Then they should have sacked her.

If they didn’t, they have to provide a good reference.

Thats why companies sometimes offer, leave before you’re pushed. This way they can still provide a good reference.

Yes.

Imagine someone not being able to get a job and therefore income to live thanks to you. I couldn’t live with myself.

Imagine being another person who went for this same job and didn't get it because OP lied!
If you can't live with saying no to anyone then you shouldn't be involved in hiring, as it nearly always means turning someone down!

I refuse to fill in those forms. If I can't fill them in positively, I just send a short factual reference confirming the job title and dates of employment. Don't get drawn in!

i don’t see the point in references if they’re not honest but just because she was poor in your role, she may thrive elsewhere

something diplomatic like , she would be better suited to xyz

I wouldn’t fill it in and would provide a factual reference on dates of employment only

She may pursue you if she loses the job due to the reference. You’ve managed to get rid of her, let her get another job and possibly become someone else’s problem.

What is your company's policy for information to provide in a reference?

Honestly, unless the job was something like nursing/medicine etc where patient care/safety is affected by poor performance, I would let this go.

Don't be spiteful and ruin someone's career. Her new job may be a better fit for her.

I couldn't do this to someone unless they were an unsafe practitioner (I work in healthcare), or if they were a bully in the workplace and had been through disciplinaries etc.

Imagine being offered a new job and then losing it because the references were poor. How can she move on from that? Don’t be responsible for that

I woild let her know that you will be honest on the reference and check she still wants you to act as referee.

In a very similar situation, I checked with the ex staffer and she came back and outright asked me to lie. I just declined to give a reference.

If you've not taken formal performance management action against her or sacked her, if she was that bad, why not? It's a bit late to complain about her now she's left of her own accord and found another job. Saying you wouldn't re employ her implies she's a thief or a liar, not merely that she wasn't very good.

I’d leave it blank. It’s not my responsibility to ruin someone’s employment chances and be somehow accused of libel.

Eh??? That is the whole point of references.

Novel concept, if you want good references do a good job. Don't expect rewards for shot performance.

Madness !!

You don’t deserve to be doomed for life due to one job though. Why not give her the chance to be judged on her performance on the new job?

Oh come on, who would know? I haven’t got plenty of jobs, I don’t waste time wondering about the references of the preferred candidate.

You said you couldn't live with yourself if your actions prevented someone from getting a job! Why does who knows about it affect this?!

I'm pointing out that whatever OP does, at least one person is probably not going to get the job. It's an inherent part of the hiring process, unless you have only one applicant.