I need to know the law regarding references?

I need a letter of reference from my previous employer for a job I'm applying for but there was some bad feeling when I left last year. I was employed on a 6 month contract but for good reason decided to give a weeks notice (stated in my contract) and leave 2 weeks early. They were not happy and didn't even speak to me on my last day of employment. I have asked them for a letter of reference and I need to know where I stand and what I can do if they refuse or I am given a lame one i.e She was adequate in her job. Which to be honest is very undeserved as I was excellent at what I did, and had a good relationship with my employers until I left early.

Are there any legal eagles who can help me? Or anyone in the know would be good too!! :oD
Additional Details
I am applying for a job overseas and they are asking for a letter of reference to be sent with my application.

I worked there for 6 months last year but also worked for them for 6 months the previous year aswell so it's a big chunk of my recent employment history.

old.holly265

There is no legal requirement for an employer to give a reference at all. If they do give one, the only legal requirement is that what is said has to be accurate and honest. This can allow them to word things in such a way as to appear lame but, due to some high profile cases where ex-employers have done a hatchet job and been sued, I can understand why they do this rather than risk the litigation.

The least helpful references are those that simply confirm the dates when a person worked for a company. Again, there seems to be a trend towards doing this.

andy w

Reference has to be honest. That is the only real rule.

There is no law which says they have to give one, if you left on bad terms then they can just say, "so and so worked here from xxx to xxx."

David T

Check out DirectGov

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/StartingANewJob/DG_10026703

Cari

If they refuse to give you one, there's nothing you can do because they're not required by law to give a reference.

If they were to use a word like "adequate" when you think that you are deserving of better than this - well, sorry, but that's simply your opinion! The person giving the reference may not agree. A word like "adequate" implies that you could do the job to a good enough standard and you probably didn't have any issues ongoing regarding your behaviour and so on. Therefore, it's pretty hard to argue with that. You may think that the sun shines out of your own *** but that doesn't mean that others agree!

A reference can only contain factual information OR it can contain opinions provided that the person giving the reference makes it clear that it is an opinion.

In your particular case, this employer would certainly be within their rights to mention that you were employed on a fixed-term contract but did not complete it.

One question that is very often asked of employers giving references is "would you re-employ this person?" and it sounds like you'd probably get a no there, which will speak volumes.

Discovery

Im not sure which country you are in. But I've worked in a few countries and it seems to be standard that employers will either choose to write you a reference or choose to be called.
Some bigger companies have policies where only a statement of attainment ( a statement with your dates of work and your role title) is provided.

So if its a big company, contact HR for a statement of attainment. If not, you can ask a recruitment agent to call for a reference for you, see what the employer says. You can just say to new employers, the job was great, loved it, but it was only temp. When I gave notice to leave, the boss turned nasty. Which was disapointing as I'd enjoyed my time there but there was no room for growth, so I decided to move on.

Cornish Granny

Usually employers will only give a reference to another employer, so if you get another job they will apply for it. Your previous employer cannot say anything bad about you in the reference, it's usually just tick boxes. They can however not send a reference, but you are not going to know until you are offered another job.
Good luck.

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