Job Seekers Mistakenly Believe Their Former Employer Can't Bad-Mouth Them
“Never Assume” - Your Job References
DETROIT (May 14, 2013) -
You're filling out a job application when you come to the question
“May we contact your former supervisor?” While you didn't “part
company” with them on particularly good terms, your understanding
is that all they should be allowed to divulge to a prospective
employer were your title and employment dates. Anything beyond that
would be illegal. So, should you check that box “yes'?
The
answer is indeed “yes”, but not for the reason mentioned here.
It's always in your best interest to tell a prospective employer
they can contact your former supervisor, for the simple reason that
telling them they cannot will raise a “red flag” and likely
ensure that you'll be removed from consideration. Yet, assuming
your former supervisor cannot - and will not - offer any
unflattering commentary about you is equally ill advised.
While
legal and/or corporate guidelines may
indeed state that only your employment dates/titles can be confirmed,
it is not necessarily illegal per se for a reference to give negative
commentary about you. References can - and very frequently do - offer
considerably more commentary to your prospective employer than simply
verifying your employment dates/title. As a result, many job-seeking
candidates who expect a favorable (or at least neutral) assessment
from their references unknowingly lose out on employment
opportunities as a result of bad
job references.
Note
that for their own legal protection, prospective employers will
almost never share with a candidate the fact that a negative
reference was
received. This is highly problematic for any job applicant - how
are they to know when a reference is offering negative, perhaps
unlawful input about them to a prospective employer? Even if they
know this, how can they address it?
As
mentioned above, negative input a reference offers about you is not
wrongful or unlawful per se. Negative
input may be illegal -
some categories include discrimination,
defamation, retaliation, disparagement or sexual
harassment. Where
a third party can document that a reference's communication was
wrongful, inaccurate, malicious and/or may fall under one of these
categories, you may indeed have the ability - through an attorney -
to pursue legal recourse. In situations where a reference's negative
input is or is not unlawful but is restricting your ability to secure
future employment, it can typically be addressed through the
transmittal of a Cease-&-Desist
letter, issued by your
attorney to the senior management of the company where the negative
reference originated. The letter would alert management of the
negative reference's identity and actions. Typically the very act of
offering a negative reference is against corporate guidelines, which
normally state that only a former employee's title/dates of
employment can be confirmed. The negative reference is cautioned by
management not to offer additional comments and - out of
self-interest - is unlikely to offer negative commentary again.
If
you're unsure as to whether a negative reference is impacting your
job seeking efforts, note there are companies such as Allison
& Taylor, Inc. (www.allisontaylor.com)
that can determine this on your behalf. Approximately 50% of all
reference checks they conduct uncover negative input from the
reference; their report can be used for legal purposes or for
the Cease-&-Desist letter
described above.
Note
that a negative reference is likely to continue offering the same
input about you to every prospective employer that calls unless you
detect it and take steps to stop it. Job seekers can lose many
opportunities before they realize what is happening. It's never too
early to identify - and neutralize - a negative job reference in your
life.
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About
AllisonTaylor:
AllisonTaylor and
its principals have been in the business of checking references for
corporations and individuals since 1984. AllisonTaylor is
headquartered in Rochester, Mich. For further details on services and
procedures please visit http://www.allisontaylor.com/.
AllisonTaylor
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Media
Contact:
Jeff
Shane
Jeff@AllisonTaylor.com
800-890-5645 toll-free USA/Canada
+1-248-672-4200 direct-dial
AllisonTaylor.com
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