"No Reference" Nonsense

There's an exasperating practice that seems to be gaining ground in the employment world – the policy of refusing to provide employment references. Sometimes "no references" means no paper references and sometimes it means no references on letterhead, but more and more it means no references of any kind – on paper or via phone.

Proponents of the no reference policy usually insist that "no reference means no lawsuit." This sweeping edict is patently absurd in the case of a good employee. After all, who would sue their former employer for a good reference? The good workers are being robbed of references for the sake of the less sterling employees, before whom the employers cower. And really, if an employer has a choice between two good candidates, one of whom has a reference and one of whom doesn't, which is likely to get the job?

Rather than banning references, employers should keep proper documentation of any negatives – lateness, absenteeism, errors, warnings, disciplinary actions, etc. – and provide a fair, balanced, accurate, and not misleading letter about the employee's work with that employer, which doesn't make conclusions but is documented fact. If this were done, lawsuits would be unlikely to go beyond a threat, because anything positive that the employee did would be noted along with anything negative – and the negative would be backed up with evidence.

How are employers supposed to know the quality of the goods they're getting? Was Mary the Acting Supervisor for two weeks or 20 weeks? – Was she ever Acting Supervisor? Did she make a typo, thus undercut her experience? Did she exaggerate the time spent in the role? Did Nurse Bob leave his last job for a career move or because he needed to skip town? In some professions, it may not be a big deal, but in a field such as healthcare …? And in the security-conscious times in which we live, you'd think employment references would be mandatory!

Of course, the ultimate irony occurs when an employer refuses to give references for their exiting staff, but then expects other employers to provide them for their prospective employees …

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