n EVIL HR LADY
DILEMMA OF THE MONTH
HOW TO RESPOND TO REQUESTS
FOR REFERENCE
CHECKS
by Suzanne Lucas
ILLUSTRATION: JOHN CHASE
M
y company has a policy of only confirming
job title and dates of employment when
people call for reference checks. I know
managers are giving out more information. How can I
train managers to send all reference requests to human
resources?
A
22
comstocksmag.com | August 2019
FIRST, SOME QUESTIONS. When you hire
people, do you check references? Do you
want to speak with their managers? Do
you ask questions about performance?
Most companies want to do refer-
ence and background checks but then
balk at giving out the same information
as they require before they hire some-
one. In fact, a friend lost out on a job
because his former manager wouldn’t
give a reference, saying it was against
company policy and she could only con-
firm job title, salary (more on that later)
and dates of employment. The recruiter
explained that if he’d truly been a good
employee, she would have broken com-
pany policy and given him a reference.
Managers are caught in this game
between their company policy, which
requires them to be tight-lipped, and the
reality of job hunting, which is everyone
needs references that can speak to their
performance. Many managers like their
former employees (I know I do) and are
happy to give references. They want to
see their former employees succeed and
know they need the reference to do so.
And, on the flip side, they don’t want
their horrible employees to move up the
corporate ladder, so they are desperate
to blab.
But your policy isn’t entirely irratio-
nal. Many lawyers advise against giving
references because you don’t want to
expose the company to any liability. If I
say, “John was a horrible employee!” and
then John doesn’t get the job, John might
sue. No company wants to be sued. But
no company wants to hire a terrible em-
ployee, either.