Reference Check Laws

[Pisces]

I was assisting a director in our business with the recruitment of a senior role. We undertook reference checks, psych testing etc and offered the role. However the candidates most recent employer did not want to participate in a reference check. They have provided a certificate of service. The candidate has now started, however our CEO wants to know if something went wrong in their last role? What rights does our company have to access this information? Is the candidate obliged to provide anything further? I am not able to find anything that is helping?

[Moz]

Firstly, you should bear in mind that as a matter of policy some companies will only provide a statement of service when asked for a reference check. So this in itself may not necessarily mean there was a problem. It may have been wise to ask the company if this is their normal practice; if they said "no" then there may be some reason to suspect a problem.

In terms of "rights" to access any other information, you don't really have any, which may explain why you can't find anything about your "rights".

The candidate is not "obliged" to provide any further information, however you could have explored this in more detail before offering the person the job, when you were in a position to ask that question. It's a bit late now.

In terms of the law, it used to be the case that you as the employer could only seek references from referees nominated by the candidate. I don't know if this has changed.

Has anyone actually asked the candidate why the previous employer would only give a statement of service, and/or if there were any issues in their last job?

[Cottoneyes]

I won't give out reference checks either generally.

I usually get contacted by one of those companies who are paid to conduct the reference checks, despite telling them each time I will not do the reference checks, they continue to call and act all surprised when I say no.

My biggest issue with them is I don't know whether they are legit, as the employee has either not informed me to expect the call or they have already left the organisation. They claim to have the employees authorisation which they will fax through, however I'm not about to recall a personnel file from the archives to check the signature.

They then try to ask me personnel questions like whether I thought the person was of a good character etc which I'm in no way qualified to answer.

If you aren't using one of these companies, you will have a much better chance if you call the HR dept direct, and ask them if there was any performance issues with the employee (assuming they have already left). This is the approach I've taken in the past, or have relied on my networks to find out the information that way.

[Moz]

Originally Posted by Cottoneyes

This is the approach I've taken in the past, or have relied on my networks to find out the information that way.

I think using your network to check someone out is technically illegal in the eyes of the Victorian Privacy Commissioner, although it goes on a lot.

[Moz]

This is a link to an information sheet from the Privacy Commissioner Victoria regarding reference checking;

unfortunately the link I provided is now broken, because the Vic government seems to constantly change their web sites with no regard to pre existing content!

[Pisces]

The senior manager has since had indirect feedback that there was a concern about this employee at their last job, although this is only conjecture. Secondly we have spoken to the person's referee and they have said they did not want to provide a reference in this instance. The employee is now concerned about us accessing information without their consent. They have provided us some information about some issues in their previous role. They don't want to have to leave this new role, however the senior manager is in two minds. Are we obliged to keep the employee on?

[Qld IR Consultant]

Tread carefully with termination. The line in terms of privacy has been crossed. My advice would be to offer some sort of apology for a misunderstanding/miscommunication and move on. If there is any issues down the track deal with them then.

[AlexT]

Come on peoples - let's remember the purpose of reference checks here! They are a way of gaining further information about someones actual performance prior to assist you in working out whether or not they are a good fit for the organisation. It sounds as though this new employee has had a rough start and now management are second guessing their decision to employ. Is it any wonder this employee is getting a bit of stage fright if big brother are watching???