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Have You Had an Unfairly Given Bad Reference From a Previous Employer?

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Published: 20Feb2012
Word count: 553
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Slight increases in the number of permanent job vacancies that were created in January 2012 have been reported by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation, which is encouraging news.

However, the competition for jobs is likely to main intense for some time yet and candidates will still need to ensure they do everything they can to stand out.

Unfortunately occasionally a candidate for a PA or EA role can stand out for the wrong reason and this can happen even after having had a successful interview, if it then transpires that a previous employer gives an unfavourable reference.

When submitting a CV including references it is important to make it clear that referees should not be contacted until after an interview, particularly if a candidate does not want their current company to know they are looking for a new position at this stage.

One way to guard against the risk of a bad reference is to make sure to leave one's previous company on good terms. Even if there has been an unreasonable or bullying boss, it may be better to swallow the temptation to retaliate by giving the real reasons for handing in notice and to keep things strictly formal.

There have also been instances where candidates have been offered a job, indicating that the interviewers had considered them suitable, only to find that the new company retracted the offer following receipt of an unfavourable reference.

This can damage future career prospects or even being able to register with a recruitment agency and to compound the problem, a request to the HR department of the new company for a copy of the reference is usually refused on the grounds of data protection making it difficult to find out whether what has been said was fair or unfair or to challenge it.

Although there is no legal obligation to give a reference, anyone doing so has a duty to be fair and factual and not to give a subjective opinion. They should also take care not to give misleading information.

There are some actions that can be taken to try to recover the situation. If the candidate believes their past employer's reference is unfairly harming future work prospects it may be possible to sue for negligent misstatement.

They need to be able to show that the reference contains misleading statements, that they have had a detrimental effect on a future employer and that the referee has been negligent.

Another option is to take the former employer to a tribunal for discrimination.

To do so you first need sight of the reference and it is possible to request a copy by making a subject access request under the Data Protection Act 1998. This will then make it possible to assess whether the reference was in some way unfair or negligent.

If a reference also contains a false or unsubstantiated statement that damages the reputation of the subject they may be able to claim some damages for defamation.

However, it is not a situation anyone wants to find themselves in and it is always better to guard against the possibility of a bad reference as far as possible.

A bad reference from a past employer can make it difficult for a PA or EA candidate to register with a recruitment agency. There are ways to guard against it happening and to overcome it if it does happen. By Ali Withers.

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