You are not required to provide a reference for employees unless there is an express term in their contract of employment stating that you will do so.

If you decide to provide a reference, you must take reasonable care to ensure that the information you provide is accurate and fair without being misleading.

If an employee wishes to see a copy of a reference that has been provided to their prospective employer, they could make a Data Subject Access Request, often known as a Subject Access Request (SAR) in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR). This request can be sent to either the current/most recent employer who gave the reference, or to the prospective employer who receives the reference. They could also send the request directly to the person responsible for writing the reference.

If an employee believes that the reference provided was inaccurate, they could bring various claims for breach of trust and confidence, false misstatement, and discrimination (if they have a protected characteristic) amongst others.

You also have a duty to the prospective employer to give an accurate reference. If false information is given, the prospective employer is entitled to bring a claim against you as the former employer for negligent misstatement – which is why many people simply state the job title and dates of employment only.

It is therefore important that any reference you provide is wholly accurate to avoid future claims regarding false or inaccurate information being given either from the employee or their prospective employer.

Get in touch to see how we can help you or manage a difficult employee situation. You can book your FREE 15 minute consultation with a member of the Meraki HR team here.