There are contributors here who are obviously in the legal profession, so it would be interesting to hear their take on this.

The basic rule is that you can say what you like provided it is demonstrably true, and you haven't signed any agreement to keep quiet.

I tend not to , but have been advised by our HR department that it is OK to give a bad reference, so long as you can back yourself up when questioned.

Sorry Strafin but isn't this exactly what I said? References should be legally truthful for both a "good" and "bad" reference!

I would say who the company was but I am afraid that somehow it'll come back to bite me in my donkey later on.
I wouldn't want to put myself in another situation such as this.

AND I still only said "Managers are idiots" and never named the company or implied I meant M manager nor advertised where I worked on the profile.

All I can say is that it is quite a big company found on the highstreet.

Do you actually know who I am? I think I've kept things here simple enough not to be in any trouble for them...unless I haven't? Please advise.
I am mega scared of getting myself into more trouble somewhere or somehow

Will ask tomorrow (I work for a team of lawyers, including employment lawyers). I will say though, that I showed the original post to a member of the team way back when, and my colleague didn't have much sympathy for the OP. Sorry - prob not what you wanted to hear!

Contrary to obvious public misconceptions, it is NOT illegal for an employer to give a bad reference. BUT whatever they give has to be true, just in case they need to back it up later.

Businesslink.gov.uk

I bet their attitude would have been different if the OP was asking for professional advice!

Okay, nobody seems to want to read my posts or believe them! Jeff, my job used to be Employment Law for a very large Multi-National Company so please believe me everyone when I say IT IS LEGAL TO GIVE A BAD REFERENCE AS LONG AS IT IS FACTUAL!

As far as the original post by Cornflake is concerned it depends on exactly what was said on Facebook and whether it could be attributed to the company in question by friends or outsiders as this can then be classed as "bringing the company into disrepute" and therefore classed in the Company's Policies & Procedures as a "dismissable offence"

Also, if the employee had been employed for less than a year, including the contractual notice period then the employee could not bring a case of unfair dismissal unless Company Procedure had not been followed or unless the employee had been discrimated against as set out in the current Employment Law.

Wakey wakey, that's exactly what I said, plus I gave a link to further advice.

But I said it before you so, wakey, wakey you

You gave no click-through link and seemed to be saying he was one of those who hadn't listened. Do try and keep up.

If you make a statement designed to help someone it's always best on here to show other places where they can get advice for themselves or more information to back up your original assertion.

The last big company I worked for had a policy that was sensible and pragmatic.

A reference for a departed employee could include the dates of their employment, their job description, any courses attended or qualifications gained and the manner in which their employment contract was terminated (e.g. redundancy/resignation) if this was specifically asked. Comment on their performance (even if thought fair comment) was not permitted.

Especially in the case of having got rid of a troublesome employee, why would a manager (or the HR/Legal dept.) want in any way to encourage further time-consuming correspondence with the individual, his legal representative or indeed any other party. We were busy enough.

In an earlier post it has been suggested that a former employer could be sued by the new employer for not divulging "important facts". Outside of any contractual arrangement between the two (employing) parties, I would be interested to see this happen.

Rgds

Yes, I couldn't see what duty the former employer owed the new one.

So, what do you want - an argument with people who agree with you? Actually what you said meant absolutely nothing, just because you write something on here doesn't make it fact. You cited no references for where you got your knowledge from, or included any information as to your background or any indication as to why you believe what you said to be true. I could not provide a link, but did not state anything as a legal fact, just wrote what I had been told and who had told me. Take it or leave it.

I think Chesapeake made quite a reasonable post, I'm not sure what has got your goat up!.

One may write what one likes; true or not, but you might have to explain yourself it in a court of law. There is no law saying you may not write negative things about someone. To avoid falling foul of the law, it only requires you to be factually accurate and that you don't break other laws of discrimination and the like.

http://www.askamanager.org/2010/06/its-not...ve-bad-job.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3065319.stm
http://www.totaljobs.com/careers-advice/mo...egal/references

Honesty?

If you give a non-committal reference I guess no one could blame you. However, if you give a glowing reference to someone you know to be useless (purely in the hope that the new employer would take away a problem for you) then I would have thought that it could be a form of fraud - or miss-selling!

It's a friggin' reference not a legally binding contract. An employer is not obliged to provide a reference at all, and if they do it's only an opinion. An employee may have been rubbish or fantastic at their job it doesn't mean they will carry that through to future employment. All this tosh about legal issues is simply inane comments by employees who simply don't understand how business works.

Rant over!

Only if someone is buying something.