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From Smart Workplace Practices*
Q. I'm a small employer and have a low-employee turnover rate, but recently I did have an employee leave. I've been called by a prospective employer asking for a work reference for the employee. What can I say? Can I be honest?
A. Giving a work reference for an ex-employee can be risky. This is particularly true when the request regards a less than satisfactory employee, and you speak spontaneously. The safest responses you can give when you are asked for an employee reference are as follows.
Can you be honest? If you adopt the above approach, honesty will not be a concern for you. But if you tell a prospective employer that the employee was rude and a constant source of irritation to you, then you may be bordering on possible defamation.
Why not just refuse to give out any information at all and avoid all possible problems? Even this strategy isn't risk-free. At least one court has held that the refusal to give a reference for a former employee while providing references for other employees is itself defamatory.
ISBE recommends: Consider the following, along with the four suggestions listed above:
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