The truth and nothing but the truth? The legal liability of employers for employee references.

Middlemiss, Sam

Abstract

It is now widely recognised notwithstanding this ‘contemporary reality’ , that where the employer giving the reference fails to provide a fair or accurate reference, through malice, negligence or carelessness, he may face a legal action. This article will deal with all the legal aspects of the provision or non-provision of references for employees or ex-employees by employers. This is an area of concern for both employers (sender and recipient) and employees. The employer giving the reference wants to know the scope of their liability (which can include the issue of disclosure of a reference to employees). The recipient employer needs to know if they have the right to recompense for economic loss arising from reliance on the reference. The subject of the reference needs to know their legal rights in respect of unjust or unfair references and accessing the content of written references. This is undoubtedly an important issue for all the parties that merits detailed consideration The present note will outline the relevant principles of law in the context of recent case law on the subject.

Citation

MIDDLEMISS, S. 2004. The truth and nothing but the truth? The legal liability of employers for employee references. Industrial law journal [online], 33(1), pages 59-67. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1093/ilj/33.1.59

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Mar 1, 2004
• Online Publication Date: Mar 1, 2004
• Publication Date: Mar 31, 2004
• Deposit Date: May 21, 2014
• Publicly Available Date: May 21, 2014
• Journal: Industrial law journal
• Print ISSN: 0305-9332
• Electronic ISSN: 1464-3669
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 33
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 59-67
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/ilj/33.1.59
• Public URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10059/979
• Contract Date: May 21, 2014