What can I do about previous employers giving wrong information during employment verification?

I have been trying for months to find a new job and I thought maybe a past employer was giving a bad reference. So, I created a generic employment verification form and faxed to all my past employers. Two employers are giving wrong information about me! 1 is giving wrong job title, dates of employment, and saying I'm not eligible for rehire because I don't live in Pennsylvania, even though I live in Maryland and live 5 minutes from their office! And the owner always said she'd give me a good reference because I was laid off and my position was eliminated. The other job I was hired as Admin Asst, then promoted to Personnel Coordinator. My old boss is saying my job title was Admin Asst, even though I worked more years as Personal Coordinator.
What can I do? I have a feeling they've been doing this for years! Should I send them a certified letter with a copy of the reference form saying they need to update their information and provide correct info for future reference checks about my past employment, otherwise they are taking the risk of being liable for my not being able to secure a new job because it makes my resume look like a lie?
I've heard that people can sue old employers for deliberately providing wrong information. Is that true?

michr

an employer can only be held liable if they
"knowingly" release inaccurate or untruthful information or reasonably should have known the information was false.
as long as HR personnel are using information from your personnel file and accurately disseminating the information the employer can not be held liable even if the information is wrong as long as the person releasing the information reasonably believed the information was correct.

this is why most companies only allow HR to reply to reference checks. HR is only aware of what is in the file not what title may have been changed by some manager or owner. HR is not interested in what some manager told you they would say about you. the only thing HR is concerned about is what is in the file. by policy decision many companies won't release any information and many more just release employment dates simply because they have computerized systems and don't want to deal with looking through old personnel files.

eligibility for re-hire is a company decision and it does not matter why you are listed as not eligible for re-hire. they do not have to state a reason why they would not re-hire you and the reason is probably of no relevance to a prospective employer.

YOU know what your duties were and your qualifications are, what another employer thinks of you is in essence irrelevant if you are able to make their opinions so. if you have to rely on a reference from a former employer to get you a job or if you allow a reference to prevent you from gaining employment then that is your fault.
work on the format of your resume and develop your interview skills, pursue continuing education and specialized certifications.

it is up to YOU to make employers base their hiring decission on YOU and not on what some other employer may have thought of you in the past.

Ed Atun

Don't try to rewrite the past. Nothing you say or do will change what the "old" employers do. Just tell all future employers that the info you are providing is true..

Fonz

I would start by being nice about it and check again to see if it worked. If not then get nasty with a lawyer. Certify your letter and write down the date and time and who you talk to every time. Remember, the person, the date amd the TIME. Means everything in court. Good luck

jp_dfw

I'd try contacting your old employers and ask them to correct anything that's blatantly incorrect.

If they don't then you could hire a lawyer and sue for damages if you can build a strong enough case that the incorrect information is what led to the no-hire decisions on applications you've made, but that's going to be a tough row to hoe - employers have dozens of other reasons they could use to not hire you and you'll be putting them in the position of having to say it was specifically the history from those two companies in order to win your case - they have no real reason to help you since they'll be on the defensive by being dragged into your case against another employer.

You'd probably be better off to just change your resume to the titles they gave and list your responsibilities for both titles under the one given by the old employer - focus on the roles and responsibilities, not the title. You'll still give an accurate representation of your previous role to a prospective employer without making it look like you're padding your resume.

If you have the option to downplay the history from those two companies and focus on other job history on your resume I'd do that as well.

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