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General purpose ex-employee reference letter

Use this letter to create a standard reference about a former employee for a potential new employer.

It is not a legal requirement to provide a reference, unless you have a contractual obligation (e.g. it says so in their employment contract or in a settlement agreement). However, failure to provide a reference could leave an employer open to allegations of discrimination. You should therefore seriously consider providing an employee with a reference when asked. It is therefore important that your reference is free from language that could be discriminatory and the format of this reference should help you in this process.

For data protection reasons, it's likely that you'll need the employee's written consent to provide the information contained in this reference, before sending it.

General purpose ex-employee reference letter

Compatible region(s): Scotland Northern Ireland England Wales

Use this letter to create a standard reference about a former employee for a potential new employer.

It is not a legal requirement to provide a reference, unless you have a contractual obligation (e.g. it says so in their employment contract or in a settlement agreement). However, failure to provide a reference could leave an employer open to allegations of discrimination. You should therefore seriously consider providing an employee with a reference when asked. It is therefore important that your reference is free from language that could be discriminatory and the format of this reference should help you in this process.

For data protection reasons, it's likely that you'll need the employee's written consent to provide the information contained in this reference, before sending it.

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General purpose ex-employee reference letter (Guidance Notes)

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