My present employer will not give me a reference is this against the law?

john s

Your present employer is under no obligation to supply you with a reference. Your employer can not give you a bad reference, he can infer a bad reference by not supplying one though.

Steven

No. References are a privilege not a right. However he cannot say anything damming about you unless you did something illegal and got fired for it (That's criminal illegal, not just 'against company policy).

mj69catz

There is a difference between a reference and verification of employment. They do have to verify employment, if the person contacting them provides proof (a document you signed) indicating that you have authorized this. They don't have to indicate that you are looking for a job to your employer.
Many employers will just verify dates of employment and salary.

However, as indicated above, you have the ability to indicate please do not contact current employer. This is fine if you have other job references -- but if you only have the one it is difficult.

When looking at references, your employer may not be the only one you can get references from. For example, a co-worker that you worked closely with can be a reference in some instances.

monkeyface

No, it is not against the law to refuse to give a reference.
However, the refusal to give a reference can sometimes be seen by a prospective new employer as a bad sign.
Maybe he thinks if he does not give you a reference you will not leave.

gemzalvn

Your employer is not allowed to give a bad reference, they can infer a bad reference by refusing to give one. Check their reasons for not giving you one.

Rex

There is no law, if they were required they would not mean anything.

Worked

No it is not against statute or common law for an employer to refuse to provide you with a reference when requested to do so by another employer-

Its negligent to provide you with a negligent reference that misrepresents you.

But there is no duty of care to provide you a reference. Can you imagine the paralysis of employers large and small, being forced to provide their former employees many of whom left decades ago, with references and fill in new employer's specific reference requests by law. Do you know how much data space keeping performance records of all former employees would take up, and how much people would have to invest in administrative facilities.

It is good practice to get permission from past employers before you present them as a referee.

ADDED 17/07/2007:
Also please note the idea of the reference is not one about "giving you a reference" on your demand, its about them agreeing to be a "referee for you" so that you basically have permission to present their name as a person for whom the new employer can talk to about you. So your referee has agreed to be a sort of referee for you.

This should be distinguished from the situation where your new employer wants to check your EMPLOYMENT HISTORY. If this is the case, of course its reasonable to expect old employers to confirm the dates you worked but that is that. The answerer below has not distinguished these two situations.

Mystic Magic

Hi, There is no law stating that your past employer must give you a reference. They are allowed to refuse, and usually if they refuse a future job your applying for will see this a bad sign and they will either question you about this or not give you the job.

If an employer has bad things to say they are NOT allowed to write you a bad reference, that IS law.

If there is no reason why he should not want to provide you with one, then it may be a case of being too busy or even having forgotten. Can you not talk to your old employer? If this gets you nowhere, then you can consider if there is anyone else within the organisation that could provide you with a reference. This will be best coming from someone on a higher level than you and not just a former co worker In any case, it may be a good idea to explain the situation to your prospective employer.

shelcom

You're not entitled to a reference. What makes you think you are? There is no law requiring them to give you one. Be thankful they're not giving you a bad one.

jojo

sweet_angel32117

First off, he probably does not want you to leave. Next time you fill out an application, under your present employer, mark "do not call", they have that on the application. They will just assume that you do not want your current boss to know you are looking for work. And if you feel the need, explain to your potential new employerer what's going on, but only if they ask. Make sure you put your two weeks in. I have personally burned too many bridges by not doing this. You never know when you'll want to go back to that job, then they tell you no cause you didn't give them a proper notice. And to answer your question, no it is not against the law. Good luck.

Tufty Porcupine

No it isn't.
If they do give one they could give a negative one (as long as it is not untruthful) so it's probably not worth pursuing.

Endless_Nameless

No, you aren't entitled to a reference. Besides, if he won't give you a reference in the first place, you probably don't want him as a reference. Doesn't sound like he'd exactly sell you to your potential new employer.

Maon

No, your present employer don't have to give you any reference, as someone said above it is a privilege not a right.

hr4me

No, there is no law that says an employer must give you a reference. The law states that an employer may not give out false or untruthful information about you.

Ms. Mimsie

No it's not against the law. However, if a prospective employer contacts them, they are legally only permitted to provide your to and from hire dates.

Not having a reference doesn't necessarily mean that your performance was bad. My company's general policy is to not provide references for any employees.

mel

No, it is company policy at some places not to give a reference. there is no law against it. if this is the case, they will just confirm that you were an employee of thiers and may say how long for.

brk

no. there's no law.

fm2499

Employers MUST give you a reference - even it is just to confirm the job title and the dates you worked there.

inneed

Yes is it against the law. An employer has to give you a referance. But if you push him he might give you a bad one.

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