What can employers say in a reference?
Many people believe an employer can’t give you a bad reference – this is so wrong. They can ruin it for you with one simple question. The most standard reference letter asks the question ‘ would you re-employ this person’? Your employer can answer no and state why not, therefore ruining your reference. Another question asked is ‘how many days off sick has the person had and for what reasons’ if you have had days off here and there that fall into a pattern then your employer can state this. Your employer can also refuse to give a reference which actually looks way worse than them doing a bad one. If a company recieve a reference refusal they usually deem it as the reference would have been so bad that the previous employer would rather not bother doing one. I would advise that if you don’t get on with your boss you send the reference to a supervisor or the HR department instead.
