Reference confidentiality

[singedchinchilla]

Hope this is in the right section!

A current employee (S) is coming to the end of his fixed term contract and has been offered and accepted a job elsewhere. I have received a reference request from the potential new employer. I am S's line manager.

My line manager (T) has had a number of issues with S since his employment within the company and has asked me to share the reference with her before I send it back.

I have no intention of doing this. I have good reason to believe T would write a bad reference to ruin S's chances of getting the new job. T says I "have to" share the reference details. I have argued it is nothing to do with her and is a confidential document that S wishes not to share. T is still pressing for it, saying it is not confidential as we work for the same organisation. I think this is quite frankly, bollocks.

Who is right?

I would pass the request to HR and get them to do it officially.

You are opening yourself to god knows what if you "selectively reference" them, knowing what you do.

@BuzzShitbagBobbly

It is a very small organisation with no HR department.

Can you explain what you mean by selectively reference?

If you're giving the reference on behalf of the company, you need to follow company policy. If you're giving it in a personal capacity, you can do what you want.

Most employers give a standard reference, confirming dates of employment and little more. It's not unlawful to give a bad reference, but does leave the employer open to legal action if the reference is untrue or deliberately misleading.

I would imagine the staff member has either put the company as the reference (so HR would normally do it) or you, so I wouldn’t pass it on to someone else. You get the option when applying for jobs of giving a person or organisation as a reference so I’d worry they’d be able to take legal action if you passed it on and that person gave a bad reference. Who is the reference request for? Can you just pass the whole thing to HR?

You are opening yourself to god knows what if you "selectively reference" them, knowing what you do.

I'm not sure what you mean by this either. If the OP sticks to the facts and her genuine interpretation of them, then there's no comeback from the new employer. Even if they were generous in their comments, I can't say I've ever heard of a new employer suing a past one in that situation.

The exception to the above would be if the OP worked in a regulated profession, but I expect they'd have mentioned if that was the case.

You get the option when applying for jobs of giving a person or organisation as a reference so I’d worry they’d be able to take legal action if you passed it on and that person gave a bad reference.

If the OP's name has been given as a representative of the previous employer, then it's a professional reference and not a personal one. In that respect, there is nothing wrong (and certainly no fear of litigation) if the reference is completed by someone else.

You are opening yourself to god knows what if you "selectively reference" them, knowing what you do.

I meant giving them a nice glowing reference when you know full well other managers in the organisation have had issues with them and are deliberately concealing that.

Ether give an honest reference with both POVs (because you're supplying it on behalf of your company, not just you personally); or stick to the dates and duties basic form.

You can either complete it as an employment reference ( dates of employment and job title ) or as a character reference.

If his new organisation has written to you at your work address, you should provide an employment reference.

If your ex colleague had approached you directly to write a reference for him to give to his new employer, you could write a character reference, making it clear that its your opinion and not that of your employer.

Does the company have a policy on references, OP?

It is a tricky situation tbh. Obviously you have been named because you will give a good reference. Do you have any issues with the LM who disagrees with your assessment of the employee's performance personally? It is hard to tell from what you've said whether your LM is being unreasonable or if they are concerned that you are going to give a misleading reference.

Sorry, I should have explained the issues T has with S started out as a small issue with performance but seem to have been blown out of all proportion. S is not easy to work with but T is now actively discriminating against S. I have reason to believe T would give S a bad reference not because he deserves one, but because of a personal vendetta.

I plan to be factual only in the reference - "I can confirm S worked in this role for X years etc".

@ChicCroissant The company has no policy on references - not many policies at all! It is a fairly new charity with 5 employees. We each have our own roles but I often end up doing bits of everything - HR, funding etc which are not strictly in my job role.

Should have said, while I don't think that the reference should be 'looked over' it should be completed by someone who has the authority to speak on behalf of the charity. The size and lack of policies may mean that this point is up for debate!

The fact that you say yourself S is not easy to work with makes me think that your LM has a point tbh! You'll have to put a copy of the reference on the file anyway, does the LM have access to it?

If you fail to comply with a reasonable request, then you open yourself up to a discipinary. Your line manager has issued you with an instruction. There is nothing unreasonable about that instruction. You may believe that the line manager may say something that that you would not, but that is not really your call. Isn't the test here - are you prepared to lose your job over refusing to obey an instruction, and do you think an employment tribunal would find that you acted reasonably. Because I don't think they would. And it doesn't really matter whether you actually would get sacked or not - it might come to that, but even if it doesn't, are you prepared to live with whatever consequences there are for refusing to obey an instruction from your line manager?

Does your line manager not have access to HR files for staff working under him then? All he'd have to do is check this person's file in order to see the reference provided along with any other records you have on them.

What's your concern with showing the reference before you send it, if you plan to be entirely factual and neutral?

@singedchinchilla you're operating above your paygrade by unilaterally deciding you'll give a factual reference when your line manager has stated they have knowledge of the employee's they wish to disclose. If it's another charity, they may have reason for concerns that involve competency, duty of care etc.

Charities and third sector organisations are particularly vulnerable the more they operate on a shoestring and try to cut corners to save costs.

We each have our own roles but I often end up doing bits of everything - HR, funding etc which are not strictly in my job role.. This is a huge red flag! You're in an environment where everyone is operating under the illusion you can be HR experts with a smattering here and there.

Give the responsibility for that reference to your LM and step away, your "opinion" is not fact.

”you're operating above your paygrade by unilaterally deciding you'll give a factual reference when your line manager has stated they have knowledge of the employee's they wish to disclose.”

I don’t read that from the OP’s posts? Sounds like her manager wants to see it before it goes, and hasn’t said OP can’t write it?

OP if this is a v small charity with only 5 employees and you are a line manager I’m guessing your own boss is probably the CEO or similarly senior. He has a right to know what is being said on behalf of a charity he is running in circumstances where the contents of a reference can have legal implications for the organisation writing it.

I did take it from the OP they are resistant towards their Manager getting involved in the reference, despite being given the instruction to share it back:

My line manager (T) has had a number of issues with S since his employment within the company and has asked me to share the reference with her before I send it back.

I have no intention of doing this