references - HELP ASAP
GLC
174 Posts
We are in the process of checking references on a candidate. On her application, the candidate indicated that she did not want us to contact her last employer. However, one of our new supervisors did because he did not see that she had marked "Do not contact" and she did not get a good reference, which she had already told me (HR) that she left on bad terms. Is it illegal for an employer to check a reference after the candidate signed on the application not to? We assumed her references would come back OK. I told her as long as the criminal check and references come back OK, she could start next week. Since the one reference did not, we do not want to hire her. She gave her notice to the temp agency she is working for because I told her she could, assuming everything would come back ok. Are we obligated to hire her? Should we tell her we checked the one reference that she asked us not to?
Comments
Also, you might want to implement a policy and language on your applications stating that you may contact previous employers as deemed necessary in the selection process. If a candidate informs us not to contact a current or prior employer, we would not agree to that. We will wait until we are sure that this is our number 1 candidate, and then give the candidate notice that we will be contacting the reference. If the candidate still says no, he/she will no longer be considered.
It is not illegal for you to call people that know this candidate and find out what's up. You did not pull a Hewlitt Packard and spy on anyone or illegally wiretap or pose as someone else to get info - you called her last employer, and that is one of the more valid references you can have.
When we agree not to contact employers, it is usually current employer because the candidate does not want them to know they are looking. In this case, she did not want you to because she knew the reference would not be favorable. Guess what, that's the one I want to know about. If the reasons for the disfavor had to do with personality, or some corporate culture problem, then that is something that might be dealt with and still result in a hire. If the reasons had to do with attendance, quality of work, theft, fighting in the parking lot, etc - then you need to know that.
Get the best information available, then make a decision, but don't bury your head in the sand like an ostrich.
So let me get this straight. You have an applicant apply for a job and in the process, they fill out an application. On the application the applicant asks that her previous employer not be called. Who agreed with her that no contact would be made? Better yet, why wasn't this "check mark" not fully discussed and dissected during the interview? Which gets me to the interview - some people can "snow" you, no doubt, but how is it that this candidate made it all the way to a contingent job offer only to have the whole thing fall a part based on one bad reference from her last employer - what was said that you folks didn't discover during the interview? Finally, pull the offer if you want, but if this forum and my own professional experience have taught me nothing else, then I know there are some very BAD employers out there. The representative from the past employer seems to have spoken pretty freely in a very negative way about a former employee (was it another HR person?) - my antenna is up & I would want to know more. I would pull the candidate back in & ask more follow up questions. You liked her enough up to this point to offer a job to join your company - why not give her a chance to explain the details?