Can civil servants serve as a job reference for contractors who are searching for employment?
Civil Service employees are free to sign letters of recommendation using their official title on Government letterhead provided it is in response to a request for an employment recommendation or character reference based upon personal knowledge of the ability or character of an individual (including government contractor employees) with whom the Civil Service employee has dealt in the course of Federal employment or whom he is recommending for Federal employment. They may likewise respond to recommendations sought by telephone. Further, if the recommendation is for that of a government contractor, the civil service employee must make clear they are federal employees that do not work for the contractor company that employs the job seeker, that they are not the job seeker’s supervisor, and that all official performance-related feedback regarding the job seeker’s performance must come from the job seeker’s contractor employer.
