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?

Isn't it illegal to give a bad reference?

On the other hand, I’m really senior and almost every leader I have worked with in the last 10 years (and yes, plenty of more junior people) have left with a settlement agreement that includes an agreed reference- often written by them or their lawyer.

the company pay them go and then hand their agreed reference over to new employers whenever asked.

so it’s not that important after all is it?

This is why we just do a reference that confirms the person worked with us in X role between these dates.

Exactly, they are meaningless now

In a large organisation there will be a referencing policy. Unless a reference is mandatory (as it is in some regulated businesses), most organisations give very limited references and would not answer a question on re-employing. I certainly would not not answer the question and would just make it N/A. If you say no and the offer is withdrawn then you and your employer are open to some very serious consequences. It is just not worth it.

It is neither spiteful nor unprofessional to answer truthfully.

but the person who came second didn’t get it because they weren’t good enough in the recruitment process, not because of anything I’ve done.

This question is deigned to test character rather than skill or competence so in these circumstances I’d write yes.

if you write no, she won’t be employed and given its a different type of role that seems unnecessarily harsh.

This is a great suggestion.

This- we’ve had to put something similar in a reference recently.

Thanks everyone, very different perspectives, some of them I was not expecting at all!

Some clarifications:
The person who contact me (her new manager) specifically asked me to tick two boxes:
1) Are you aware of any aspects of the applicants conduct, work or character which could detract from the required job performance?
2) Would you re-employ this person?

So leaving it blank will seem odd?

Then, re the company and whether HR should give the reference instead.

1. Nope - this is academia, HR do not get involved with reference letters.
2. The company is actually the same; she is just moving to a completely different department.

Are you OP? If so, you've changed username and people won't necessarily clock your post....

Most companies have policies to leave this blank and just confirm title and employment dates. Filling the reference out in a way that jeopardises the person's new role will likely not only make you look like a problem but also open you up for litigation.

Not worth the risk. Leave it blank.

Oh shit, yes it's me - issues between phone and PC.
Thanks

The most professional and standard response is along the lines of:

“Jane Smith worked with Company Name from 8 January 2024 to 20 April 2026. At the present date / at the time of her employment with Company Name ending, she is/was employed in the position of Administrator. As a matter of policy Company Name will not provide information on any employee’s or former employee’s performance, attendance record, or any other aspect of their employment.”

It’s just good practice in terms of protecting your own employer and avoids any kind of subjective judgement for you to worry about.

I'd just confirm that she worked for you and the dates.
It would be shitty to write a bad reference that negatively affected her chance to move on.
You say she left. She wasn't sacked. You think she would actually probably be better in that role so why tell them or even hint that you didn't think she had any skills? Maybe your on-boarding or training wasn't great?
She wants to move on and it's not a great job market out there so don't be spiteful

If you feel it's an appropriate role just say yes. if it's not leave it blank.

It also seems incredibly vindictive to say no, and almost as though you would find sabotaging her future career satisfying. Do you want her future career, security, possibly home and finances to be in jeopardy, just because she wasn't a good fit for your company?

Not every role is right for the person who was recruited for that role. Who are you to determine whether she would be right for another role that has nothing to do with your company? So many people have worked in places that aren't right for them, but have thrived and excelled in others. Would it make you feel better knowing that you blocked any career opportunity she had, depriving her of the chance to move forward with her life.

I had this recently. I rang the person asking and said I was calling on an off the record basis, and was she happy to talk on that basis?

She was, and I explained I would not allow the person back in the building and would never deal with him again, on any basis.

I hope that someone else would do the same for me. It’s a relatively small word that I work in.

Who are you to determine whether she would be right for another role that has nothing to do with your company?

So are you telling OP to say yes, because you think the applicant should have the role?

There is some shocking advice on here.

Speak to your HR department if you have one or reply with a factual reference of role and employment dates.

There’s much more to it than just what you think of the employee.

Was there a robust performance/capability process for example? Which would be important if they made an ET claim from not getting the job due to a poor reference…

There are a couple of case law examples in the news recently too.

Oof, ive worked with some really spiteful managers in over 30 years but I can honestly say not a single one would be this snide 😂😂😂

Was it an internal transfer or did she leave the universities employment with Your team and has now come back?

if not and it’s just an internal transfer I’d want rid of her so give her a glowing one

I used to work in a University. Before I started there was someone on the team that joined a different part of the Uni and was given a glowing reference by the manager. They were often late, fiddled their time sheets for extra flexi time, missed deadlines etc and they wanted rid. A month or so later it kicked off as they didn't change their behaviour and the new manager made official complaint about the reference