Tweet
Re: String of resignations
A bad reference is not in itself illegal but it has to be 100% accurate or the referee risks being sued if your former (or current) employer says untruthful things about you to a company where you have applied to work, the company where you applied would have hired you had your ex-employer not said untruthful things about you, and you lose out on income as a result.
Looking at the scenario of this and the limitation of rights under the 12 month period, I feel collective discussion between you as a group would be wise. Even if the above does not apply in this instance, has she given other bad references? If so, she is treading on dangerous ground, that's why although not illegal to issue a bad reference, many employers will steer clear of doing it because of the implications.
Your colleague can apply to the company for paperwork pertaining to his application if he still has any doubts about the signifigance of the reference within his application, this may not be forthcoming as the company may be scared into thinking that it is them your friend has a complaint against. He can either state in the request that it is for personal development and feedback reasons or, if you're all in a sneaky mood, is there anyone you know who has a business where he could apply for a job and subsequently a reference which he could pass straight to your colleague? I'm not suggesting for one minute being sneaky but sometimes.....
Lastly, in contradiction of any alleged defamation contained in a reference, testimonies by former colleagues can be collected as well as finding a number of people who will testify in person in court that such reference is inaccurate.
As Bluebottle says, if such a reference came to light the person it was referring to would be in an excellent position to fire off a warning letter to the CEO making him aware of this woman's inept handling of situations. And if the company brought her in to do a hatchet job on the staff it'll also fire a warning shot at them that they need to behave themselves.
Incidentally, is this company subject to any licences at all? If so, a defamation case could also cost them dearly and they would take any implications of her behaviour very seriously.
By the way, government is looking at extending employment rights period to 24 months - a retrograde step if ever there was one. People will have to go down the H&S route if this happens because employers will abuse this situation. I don't exactly know why they feel the need to do this, Mr Shads has a business and wouldn't dream of being unfair.
A bad reference is not in itself illegal but it has to be 100% accurate or the referee risks being sued if your former (or current) employer says untruthful things about you to a company where you have applied to work, the company where you applied would have hired you had your ex-employer not said untruthful things about you, and you lose out on income as a result.
Looking at the scenario of this and the limitation of rights under the 12 month period, I feel collective discussion between you as a group would be wise. Even if the above does not apply in this instance, has she given other bad references? If so, she is treading on dangerous ground, that's why although not illegal to issue a bad reference, many employers will steer clear of doing it because of the implications.
Your colleague can apply to the company for paperwork pertaining to his application if he still has any doubts about the signifigance of the reference within his application, this may not be forthcoming as the company may be scared into thinking that it is them your friend has a complaint against. He can either state in the request that it is for personal development and feedback reasons or, if you're all in a sneaky mood, is there anyone you know who has a business where he could apply for a job and subsequently a reference which he could pass straight to your colleague? I'm not suggesting for one minute being sneaky but sometimes.....
Lastly, in contradiction of any alleged defamation contained in a reference, testimonies by former colleagues can be collected as well as finding a number of people who will testify in person in court that such reference is inaccurate.
As Bluebottle says, if such a reference came to light the person it was referring to would be in an excellent position to fire off a warning letter to the CEO making him aware of this woman's inept handling of situations. And if the company brought her in to do a hatchet job on the staff it'll also fire a warning shot at them that they need to behave themselves.
Incidentally, is this company subject to any licences at all? If so, a defamation case could also cost them dearly and they would take any implications of her behaviour very seriously.
By the way, government is looking at extending employment rights period to 24 months - a retrograde step if ever there was one. People will have to go down the H&S route if this happens because employers will abuse this situation. I don't exactly know why they feel the need to do this, Mr Shads has a business and wouldn't dream of being unfair.
Comment