References are an important part of any recruitment process. They help prospective employers validate what a candidate has said on their CV or during interview and can also assist with assessing reliability and suitability for the role. It is common for practice owners to receive reference requests, regarding exiting or former members of staff. In what seems for many to be an increasingly litigious operating environment, practice owners regularly contact us with concerns about the risks attached to providing a reference. They query how those risks might be mitigated within the content of any reference and, indeed, whether the safest course may be to refuse to provide a reference altogether.
There is usually no legal obligation on an employer to provide a worker with a reference on termination of their employment. That is unless there is a contractual obligation to provide one, as in the case in most associate agreements, or the parties work within a regulated industry, for example, financial services, where employers must provide references. Additionally, where a practice customarily gives references, it should try to adopt a consistent approach to requests or risk allegations of discrimination or breach of the employment contract.
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