Can I legally request copies of references checked by a potential emp and statements made by a former employer

Shane

I do not know of any state where they are obligated by law to share with a prospective employee what a former employer may have said and certainly not give any documents. However, the law firm I work for uses a company by the name of Allison Taylor. They do professional reference checking and have been around for over 20 yrs. The founder is an attorney. We use them when we have a client who is having problems securing work after they have filed suit against a former employer. They are really very good. We usually tell the client to purchase the executive report which is much more extensive as oppose to the basic report.

www.allisontaylor.com

michr

depends on the state you are in
many states allow for access to your personnel file but not all
and only a couple of states mandate you be allowed a copy.

in almost every state that does mandate your access to personnel records reference letters are not something you must be allowed to see.
generally if the state has a law concerning the employee file it only mandates that you have access to parts of it that you have signed or have previously been communicated to you. every state makes payroll records available to each employee(but that is a totally different issue)

as far as what was said you can ask the prospective employer if the reference was negative and they very well may tell you but you are not granted access to anything they have since you were/are not an employee.

employers are protected from legal action in every state for giving a reference as long as the reference is truthful.
employers are only in violation if they "knowingly" disseminate inaccurate or false information.
in some states they are also in violation if "they reasonably should have known the information was false"

if a background check was performed then if you request a copy of it they must provide it. background checks are governed by the same laws as credit checks and fall under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

hr4me

It depends, some reference check release forms have a question as to whether or not you would like a copy of the report. If you mark "yes" then they will send you a copy of the report.

You could ask the company you interviewed with if they will give you a copy, but they are not legally obliged to give you one or to disclosed what information was released to them.

danny14551

You can request them, but it most states it is legal for them to deny your request.

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