Termination and References
sdiconza
35 Posts
Has anyone had the experience of firing an employee for performance, only to have them use you as a reference for future employment? The employee knew that we did not hold her in high regard, and yet she still writes us down as a reference. Is it OK to nip this in the bud at termination and tell the employee NOT to use the employer as a reference? Any dangers there?
Comments
A couple of questions for you:
1. Are you sure this employee used your company for a reference or did the company he/she applied with just call the last employer to vertify the information? There are many companies that will call the last couple of employers to verify the information on the application is correct.
2. What does your policy say regardig employment verifications? Mine says that employment verifications are done only in writing and with a release from the applicant. We will only verify that the person was an employee, position, dates of employment and salary. My President has made an exception to our policy in one circumstance (the employee's spouse was getting transferred out of state by the government, and the employee was a great employee so we did give the prospective employer more information because we wanted to help this employee get a good position.)
I wouldn't say anything at termination. If you get contacted I would just follow your policy.
I wouldn't get into it at termination time. It's a difficult enough situation and making people mad at exit time is counter productive and can end up expensive. Following your own policy is a good idea. If you don't have one, it's a good time to make one. Like many businesses, we don't say much of anything.