Comments on: Will this go on my permanent record?

Question: Will this go on my permanent record?

destro — Tue, 01 May 2007 15:44:57 -0800

Is there a website for employers to discuss potential and past employees? I'd like to find out what previous employers have said about me.

By: dersins

dersins — Tue, 01 May 2007 16:04:02 -0800

I would be surprised if there were. It would be a fertile breeding ground for lawsuits.

By: destro

destro — Tue, 01 May 2007 16:06:36 -0800

Can employers not legally discuss employees?

By: dersins

dersins — Tue, 01 May 2007 16:11:34 -0800

Just about anyone can legally discuss just about anything.

In the US, however (you didn't specify where you are), just about anyone can be sued for discussing just about anything (nb: Not necessarily successfully, of course).

Frequently, employees whose employment has been terminated (whether wrongfully or not) or who have not been offered a position for which they feel they are qualified, will initiate legal proceedings.

A web site in which employers discussed the virtues and vices of current and former employees would likely provide much grist for the litigation mill.

This is why many former employers, when called for references, will provide no more than title and dates of employment

By: destro

destro — Tue, 01 May 2007 16:12:13 -0800

what about contractors though?

By: nerdcore

nerdcore — Tue, 01 May 2007 16:16:34 -0800

In CA at least, pretty much all you are safe to say as an employer when asked about a previous employee is a) did the employee work for you? y/n and b) would you hire them again? y/n. HR people, when doing reference checks, often won't ask more than that unless the person is a listed as a personal or character reference.

By: Happy Dave

Happy Dave — Tue, 01 May 2007 16:25:50 -0800

LinkedIn allows you to basically testify for people you've worked with, recommending them as colleagues, but yeah, any such site would be creamed with lawsuits before it got very far. Who would run such a site? How would they make (enough) money, especially being constantly sued by anyone who had anything negative said about them (which could conceivably result in lost earnings). And even if this website did exist, why would it be open to the employees who were being talked about?

By: destro

destro — Tue, 01 May 2007 16:46:11 -0800

Lots of people run sites that have people make disarranging comments about other people. And I know for a fact there are websites where people make comments about contractors - albeit for home construction. Why wouldn't there be one for computer work?

Does anybody have a better answer?

By: destro

destro — Tue, 01 May 2007 16:49:54 -0800

"disparaging"

By: toomuchpete

toomuchpete — Tue, 01 May 2007 17:18:50 -0800

Dersins already gave you the best answer you're likely to get. The short version is: nothing like this likely exists on any sort of large scale.

By: ClaudiaCenter

ClaudiaCenter — Tue, 01 May 2007 18:14:48 -0800

There are companies you can hire to call for a reference check. Here's one, another, another.

By: unexpected

unexpected — Tue, 01 May 2007 18:53:41 -0800

destro...people make disparaging comment about people all the time, simply because they don't have the resources to sue.

However, when one big company talks to another big company about an employee, their comments can be grounds for a wrongful termination lawsuit, simply because you might not agree with them.

Many companies these days, when called for a reference, merely say, "Yes, he worked here from this date to that date" and won't reveal anything more.

By: caddis

caddis — Tue, 01 May 2007 18:56:28 -0800

Oh man, if you find one of these websites let me know. I will become rich suing their asses.

By: Ironmouth

Ironmouth — Tue, 01 May 2007 20:17:47 -0800

Good God. It would last five minutes. Instead, hire a service to conduct a reference check on you. On preview, ClaudiaCenter has it.

By: pardonyou?

pardonyou? — Wed, 02 May 2007 07:58:11 -0800

I'll tell you a true story about one of the sites that ClaudiaCenter links to. A client that I represent was sued by a former employee, claiming that one of my client's HR reps gave a bad reference check. My client has a "dates of employment"-type policy. This reference check company called the HR rep at least 5 times, posing as a prospective employer, repeatedly badgering the HR rep for some bad remark. The company kept asking questions like, "Well, since you're not telling me anything, it seems like this is someone you didn't want around," and "you don't sound very enthusiastic about X." Ultimately, to get this person off the phone, in response to a question about whether the person was eligible for rehire, the HR rep said something like "well, she's not ineligible, I guess."

Now, that was pretty thin gruel to support a lawsuit to begin with (and we ultimately got the case dismissed on that basis), but it was interesting that the company that the former employee had hired wouldn't agree to have the rep travel to the state in question to testify at trial on her behalf. These companies have a vested interest in trying to extract negative comments. I would caution you to watch what you're paying for -- it may not be everything you think you're going to get.

By: ClaudiaCenter

ClaudiaCenter — Wed, 02 May 2007 08:50:57 -0800

That is fascinating and disturbing, pardonyou?. If you're comfortable identifying which one of the companies, I'd be interested. (The only of the companies I have had any semi-direct contact with is JobReference.com -- I'm pretty sure they gave my office some pamphlets.)