Reference Request & Provision Procedure template

2. Authorized responders

• Only [HR/named roles] provide references on behalf of {{org.name}} — in any form: phone, email, letter, reference-check platforms, and employment-verification services.
• Managers and colleagues do not give company references. A manager asked for one redirects the request to [HR contact] — warmly, and without commentary that becomes the reference by accident.
• [If {{org.name}} permits personal references: an employee may give one in a personal capacity only — off company letterhead and email, stated explicitly as personal, and never covering matters known only from company records.]
• LinkedIn recommendations and similar public endorsements by managers about current or former reports [are discouraged / require HR guidance] — they are discoverable statements that can contradict the file.

3. The neutral reference standard

Unless the subject has consented in writing to more and [HR] has approved it, {{org.name}} confirms only factual information from the employment record:

• Dates of employment and job title(s) held.
• [Location worked and full-time/part-time status.]
• Compensation — only [with the employee's written consent / where your state's rules permit the disclosure requested]; several states restrict salary-history inquiries, so check your state before answering pay questions.
• [Optional, decide once and apply always: eligibility for rehire, as a yes/no from the record.] Answering it for some former employees and refusing for others is itself a signal — pick one practice.
• What the neutral standard excludes: performance opinions, reasons for leaving, disciplinary history, health or leave information, and speculation of any kind.

4. Handling incoming reference requests

1. 1Route every request — written, phone, or platform — to [HR contact]. No one else answers, however friendly the caller.
2. 2Verify the requester: for phone requests, take the caller's name and organization and call back through the organization's published main number, not a number the caller supplies.
3. 3Check for the subject's [written consent / signed release]; where none is on file, [obtain it / provide only dates and title per the neutral standard].
4. 4Answer strictly from the employment record using the neutral standard — read the facts, decline the rest: "Our policy is to confirm dates and title." Repeated identically, that sentence protects everyone.
5. 5Decline "off the record" conversations entirely — there is no off the record; every statement is attributable to {{org.name}}.
6. 6Log the request in [system]: date, requester, organization, subject, what was asked, what was provided, and who responded.

5. Special situations

1. 1Requests involving threatened or actual litigation, subpoenas, or government investigators go to [counsel/HR director] before any response — acknowledge receipt, promise nothing, escalate the same day.
2. 2Requests about an employee who left under a [separation agreement with an agreed reference] are answered exactly per the agreed wording on file, by [HR] only.
3. 3Where {{org.name}} knows of serious misconduct that a glowing reference would conceal, [HR] involves counsel before responding — the safe path is usually the neutral reference, accurately given; the dangerous paths are embellishment in either direction.

6. Requesting references on candidates

1. 1Obtain the candidate's consent before contacting referees, and time checks [after a conditional offer / at the final stage] per the hiring procedure — some states and localities regulate the timing and content of pre-hire inquiries; check yours.
2. 2Ask the same job-related questions of every referee from the standard form at [location]: dates, role, responsibilities, performance against the job's requirements, and eligibility for rehire — never health, family plans, protected characteristics, or salary history where your state restricts asking.
3. 3Record each referee's answers on the form, file them with the hiring record for [period], and weigh a refusal to comment as a neutral fact — many companies give only dates and title as policy, and that policy is not a red flag about the candidate. [If a third-party background-check service is used, follow the additional consent and adverse-action steps that federal rules require — see EEOC guidance and your provider's process.]

7. Records and review

The reference log, consent forms, agreed-reference wordings, and completed reference-check forms are retained at [system/location] for [period], with access limited to [HR/named roles]. The log matters twice: it evidences consistency if a reference is ever challenged, and it shows what was actually said, by whom — memory is not a defense.

This procedure is reviewed [frequency, e.g. annually], after any disputed reference, and when state law changes on references, immunity, or salary-history inquiries. Owner: [name/role]. Next review due: [date].