I worked at Teledyne and got laid off. The official policy was that they wouldn’t give anyone a reference good or bad just confirm that the person worked there. Shit people making shit products. They threatened to not give me any severance unless I agreed to never badmouth the Teledyne corporation on the internet. I took the money.
Comment on Cloudflare Employee records her final meeting where HR tries to fire her
FanciestPants@lemmy.world 3 months agoSeems like it would also have the effect of making the employee less appealing to any potential future employers. When asked in an interview why they left their previous job, these people have to decide whether to say honestly that they were let go because of mismanagement and risk their possible new job on whether the background check includes a call to the HR department of your last employer, or give the line that would match the HR record and say they were fired for poor performance. Either way is going to make it pretty hard to get hired, and so if Cloudflare ever needs to hire again in the future, there’s a decent chance these people will still be seeking employment.
afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world 3 months ago
greenskye@lemm.ee 3 months ago
The professional workaround is ‘are they eligible for rehire’. If you’re laid off it’s a yes, if not it’s a no.
MotoAsh@lemmy.world 3 months ago
“I took the money.”
Uh oh, now you’re going to have to give it back for spilling the tea!
afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world 3 months ago
I will get right on that. Maybe I will show up to my ex-manager’s manager house and discuss the matter with him. You know on a rainy night near midnight. Is that the proper way to do this?
thesporkeffect@lemmy.world 3 months ago
There is no professional, moral, or practical reason to attempt to be “honest” about why you were let go unless you are in a hyper local industry where everyone knows each other personally. Obviously even Cloudflare doesn’t have a solid idea why they let her go.
Employment verification usually goes to a third party either way.
FanciestPants@lemmy.world 3 months ago
I’ll take this into consideration the next time I look for a new position. I’ve never been on the side of performing or requesting a background check on a potential employee, but have almost always been asked why I left my previous employer when I’ve interviewed for a new position. Thanks internet friend.
KairuByte@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 months ago
Yeah, just to second them, most companies won’t share much more than the vaguest of summaries of your time there. Such as “yes they worked here between these dates doing job”. Keep in mind the person answering the phone most likely doesn’t even know who you are unless you give a direct line to your direct report.
But there’s a bigger reason; they could potentially be sued for damages. If what HR has in the file isn’t true, or the manager misremembers, or any other long list of things. They would be defaming you. Hard to win, harder to prove, but still something most companies want to steer clear of.
There are also state laws which dictate what can and cannot be said about a past employee, but that varies from state to state.