The world of employment references is complex under employment law. Unlike school report cards, employment references must be truthful, but at the same time, not all negative facts may be mentioned without restriction in the reference. Employers must therefore strike a balance between the duty of truthfulness and the employee’s professional advancement.
Furthermore, regardless of the reason that led to the termination of the employment relationship, employment references must always be written in a favorable light and be conducive to the employee’s future career. Even if employees have behaved in a way that justifies termination, this is generally not allowed to be mentioned in the employment reference.
In this article, we’ll show you which phrases may sound positive but are actually not (so-called “coded truth”), and when you should have your employment reference reviewed.
What Is an Employment Reference?
A job reference is an assessment of an employee’s performance and conduct. It should detail the tasks and duties performed, as well as the performance evaluation and an assessment of the employee’s professional conduct. Every employee has the right to receive a job reference at the end of their employment.
It is also possible to request an interim reference during the employment relationship. An interim reference is usually requested when employees wish to use it to apply for a new job. It may also be advisable to have an interim reference issued before transferring to a new department or when there is a change in supervisors. The interim reference is also relevant in the run-up to the termination of the employment relationship, as the employer commits to the assessment by issuing it. A final reference issued shortly thereafter cannot simply deviate negatively from the assessment provided in the interim reference.
Upon termination of employment, the employee may choose between a basic and a qualified employment reference. The basic reference contains only information on the duration of employment, position, and duties. The detailed reference is now considered the standard and includes, for example, the performance evaluation mentioned above.
Why should you have an employment reference reviewed?
The employment reference is intended to facilitate the employee’s career advancement. To this end, the qualified employment reference includes, for example, specific evaluations of performance and conduct during the employment relationship. To evaluate performance, a specific language of employment references has developed, with its own phrasing and turns of phrase.
Even though some of these phrases or evaluations may sound positive to laypeople at first glance, this is not always the intended meaning. There are certain phrases that are meant to convey almost the opposite of what is actually stated.
HR managers at a prospective employer, in particular, recognize such phrasing—including hidden “secret codes”—in employment references. This can result in a candidate not getting a new job because, despite the positive-sounding reference, they were actually portrayed in a negative light.
In such a case, the employment reference no longer serves your career advancement—it actually hinders it. Therefore, certain phrases or secret symbols are inadmissible and should be avoided at all costs.
To ensure your reference does not put you at a disadvantage, it is therefore advisable to have it reviewed by a legal professional.
How do I know if my employment reference is good?
With the following examples, we want to show you which phrases or codes may be hidden in employment references—ones that would often go almost unnoticed. However, such phrases or codes always have a negative impact on the employee.
The Format of the Employment Reference
Even setting aside language, phrasing, or secret codes, the format of the employment reference itself conveys a message. One might think that including the employee’s address in the address field is standard practice because the reference is sent by mail. The same would then apply to the crease that forms when the document is folded to fit an envelope.
However, an employment reference is a debt to be collected in person. This means that the employee must pick up the reference. Sending it by mail is therefore not intended.
If the employment reference includes an address, it was sent by mail rather than handed over in person. This allows one to draw conclusions about the relationship between the employer and the employee at the end of the employment relationship. This may indicate that the employer terminated the employment and that there was a legal dispute.
Also pay attention to the physical appearance: an address and a crease should be avoided.
The Overall Rating on the Employment Reference
If employees still have unused vacation days remaining during the statutory notice period, they cannot freely decide whether to take the vacation or have the days paid out instead. In many cases, employees in expiring employment relationships are irrevocably placed on leave, and their vacation days are credited accordingly. Such leaves of absence are often valid or even stipulated in the employment contract itself. Important to note: A revocable leave of absence—that is, one in which employees can be recalled to work—does not entitle the employee to have vacation days credited.
Compensation is paid only if the employee’s remaining vacation entitlement can no longer be taken.
Reasons for this may include, for example, that the employee’s labor is still needed until the last day, or that the employee simply has too many vacation days remaining and cannot take them all.
At the end of a job reference, you’ll often find a sort of overall grade or evaluation from the employer. You’ll frequently read something here about the employer’s satisfaction. One might think that if, for example, someone is rated as “fully satisfied,” this could hardly be improved upon.
However, the employer’s “full satisfaction” does not correspond to a grade of 1 in school, but rather to a grade of 3. The little word “always” turns that grade of 3 into a 2. If the overall evaluation states that work has been performed “ consistently to the employer’s full satisfaction,” then this is the highest possible rating, equivalent to a 1 on a school report card.
Especially when it comes to the overall evaluation or the assessment of individual tasks, performance, and behavior, every nuance and every word often matters. You should also pay close attention if, despite a good to very good grade, individual words are, for example, in italics or otherwise highlighted. This negates the otherwise good and positively described performance.
Inappropriate Wording and Content
Employment references may contain information about duties, conduct, performance, and behavior when interacting with customers, coworkers, or supervisors. However, anything beyond that is generally not permitted. The same applies to illnesses, disabilities, sexual orientation, or interactions with coworkers outside the workplace.
Occasionally, however, one also comes across the word “empathy” in employment references, along with further comments on the subject. For example, someone may have shown “great empathy” or demonstrated “a deep sense of empathy.”
While empathy is certainly part of everyday work life in a social profession, for example, and is undoubtedly a quality associated with certain professions, in the context mentioned here it means something else.
Here, “empathy” usually refers to hidden information about a sexual relationship within the workplace. “Comprehensive” empathy may even indicate that the author of the job reference is explicitly trying to draw attention to the employee’s homosexual or bisexual orientation.
Secret Codes in Employment References
Employment references sometimes contain small symbols in the form of dots, dashes, or underlines. These are not mere oversights but have a very specific meaning.
For example, if—contrary to the company’s standard letterhead—the company’s phone number is suddenly underlined, this is not an oversight. This is intended to provide the reader of the employment reference with additional information about the employee via phone.
At the end of an employment reference is the employer’s signature. Here, you may sometimes find small dashes or checkmarks that appear to be placed randomly. For example, a small vertical dash next to the signature is meant to indicate union membership. Small checkmarks that look like commas next to the signature are meant to indicate political leanings.
How long do I have to contest my employment reference?
There can be many sources of errors in employment references. We recommend having a thorough review conducted immediately upon receiving your employment reference. This should not only address potential grammar and spelling errors but also include a detailed review of the content. It’s best to take advantage of our expertise for this. As certified specialist lawyers in employment law, we are qualified to enforce your right to a fair employment reference. Under current case law, this right is valid for six months. The employer must correct your employment reference within this period.
Legal Review of the Reference
With these examples, we want to show employees that there are many small details to watch out for in a job reference. Not all phrasing should be assumed to reflect the writer’s intent.
Even if employees can draft their own employment references, they may unintentionally include phrasing that could be detrimental to them. Therefore, take advantage of a legal review of your employment reference. Employees are entitled to a favorable reference, which can be enforced in labor court in the event of a dispute.
