Providing and Obtaining Employment Reference Information
Date of Current Revision: September, 2007
Primary Responsible Officer: Director of Human Resources
- PURPOSE
The purpose of this policy is to outline the procedures for obtaining as well as providing employment-related reference information at James Madison University and to establish the university’s commitment to open, truthful, job-related reference information sharing. - AUTHORITY
The Board of Visitors has the authority to determine policy concerning the employment of individuals at the university. Where the board has not enacted rules, the authority is delegated to the President. In addition, this policy is written in conjunction with Policy #1311 Recruiting & Hiring for Classified and Wage (Part-time) Positions and under the authority of the Virginia Department of Human Resource Management Policy 2.10 on hiring. - DEFINITIONS
Reference Check:
The process by which individuals are contacted who are knowledgeable about an applicant’s work history in order to verify the facts on his/her resume and/or application and any job-related information, including that provided during the interviewing process.
Hiring Manager:
Any person or group of persons (such as a search committee) involved in the hiring of any JMU employee. - APPLICABILITY
This policy applies to all persons at James Madison University as they provide reference information, including information on former and current faculty and staff. It also applies to all those employees, including hiring managers and members of search committees, who are gathering reference information on potential job candidates, including those candidates who are currently JMU faculty or staff. - POLICY
The process of gathering complete, job-related reference information is a required part of the recruiting and hiring process at James Madison University because it supports the university’s commitment to maintaining an effective workforce. In addition, the university will recruit and hire employees in accordance with federal, state and university policies. To comply with these policies, to ensure that employment practices are effective, and to provide equal employment opportunity, the following guidelines and procedures must be observed when involved in obtaining or providing reference information. - PROCEDURES
6.1 Obtaining Reference Information
At least three complete, job-related references must be conducted before any employment offer is made to an applicant. References may be obtained in any one of a variety of formats including face-to-face, telephone, e-mail, etc. Personal references may be contacted if the applicant has a limited amount of work experience. However, it is important to note that personal references are often not helpful in determining a candidate’s true performance history.
Reference checks should attempt to obtain information including, but not limited to:
- Employment dates
- Position title
- Position duties
- Beginning and ending salaries
- Training completed
- Job performance, including performance strengths and weaknesses
- Whether the employer would rehire the applicant
- Verification of any required license, degree or certification
- Reason(s) for the candidates’ leaving his/her current employment
The application also contains a release statement by which applicants grant the university permission to contact their current employer. If permission is not given, the current employer may not be contacted. However, when the hiring manager is conducting final references, he/she may inform the candidate that the inability to contact the current supervisor could affect the hiring decision or result in a contingent offer of employment.
Please note that the above provisions do not limit the hiring manager to only contacting the references listed on the application itself.
When conducting reference checks, questions should be phrased in a manner that will solicit objective and job-related information only. Any information supplied that is not directly job-related should be disregarded. The objective of the reference check is to gather information that is open, truthful (or documented) and job-related. A sample reference check form can be found on the Human Resources web site.
6.2 Providing Reference Information
Although there may be risks involved in disclosing full employment reference information, there are also risks in withholding truthful and/or documented job-related information. Moreover, the information obtained by prospective employers of former university employees is as crucial to their effective hiring as it is for the university. The university believes that providing reference information represents good faith in being part of a community. For these reasons, managers at James Madison University may answer all job-related questions when contacted by other businesses and agencies.
When a JMU employee is contacted for reference information but does not believe he or she has sufficient information regarding the former employee in question, he or she may refer the call to Human Resources.
During the conversation with the potential employer, only job-related questions may be answered. For instance, one cannot tell a prospective employer what a former employee’s ‘attitude’ was, but observable job-related information may be provided. Examples of job-related information that may be shared include, but are not limited to information, positive or negative, regarding attendance, awards/recognitions, achievements, errors, team/interpersonal behaviors, etc.
6.3 Access to References
Information obtained during the reference check process is confidential. According to the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, agencies are not required to share this information with the applicant. Therefore, all materials should be maintained in a confidential file for the appropriate amount of time (see Policy 1109 Records Management). - RESPONSIBILITIES
Hiring managers at James Madison University are required to use all of the information sources available to make effective hiring decisions. These sources include, but are not limited to:- Maintaining clear, specific job descriptions (EWP) for each position
- Well-targeted and effective recruiting advertising
- Designing specific, job-related candidate screening criteria
- Conducting legal, fair, effective job interviews
- Conducting open, complete and job-related reference research
- SANCTIONS
Sanctions will be commensurate with the severity and/or frequency of the offense and may include termination of employment. In addition, certain legal penalties will apply for violation of legislation such as the Virginia Freedom of Information Act. - EXCLUSIONS
None. - INTERPRETATION
While the authority to interpret this policy is granted to the President, it is generally delegated to the Director of Human Resources.
Approved by the President: February, 2004
Index of Terms
Reference checks
Providing references
Appendix
Sample Reference Check Form