I am job hunting and I suspect that my past employer is giving some negative feedback to potential new employers. I work in the nursing field so consequently I am in high demand. I find it surprising that it is taking me so long to find full time employment.
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I think you might be a little paranoid. These days, with the threat of employee lawsuits hanging over their heads, most employers instruct their management employees not to respond to references from other employers.
If it is taking you a long time to find a job in a high demand field, you might want to get an unbiased opinion (if you can handle the critizism) about your resume and interview demeanor. Sometimes, we can really get a blind side about ourselves and think that we are portraying a good image to others when we are not.
Our HR and Legal departments tell us not to confirm anything more than dates of employment, position, terms of separation (layoff, quit, terminated – nothing else), and if they are eligible for rehire. We have to give the same information for a good employee or a problematic one.
Legal tells us that giving someone a good reference and someone else no reference is the same as giving them a bad reference. So, we can’t give anyone a reference. Most other employers who call us also know the drill. It’s pretty standard practice now.
employers are free to give out any information regarding an ex employee as long as it is truthful, some companies may only answer certain questions some may not give out any information but that is their policy not law, references good or bad are not illegal as long as they are true