References are a part of recruitment that are often forgotten about by candidates and not seen as important as a good CV or cover letter. But with high profile jobs like public sector jobs or accountant jobs, every stage of the recruitment process is just as important. Recruiters will be keen on checking references from previous employment but references in the eyes of the law aren’t simple and can cause a lot of problems.

Employers are not legally obliged to give references for previous employees, but sometimes the obligation may be added to an employee’s contract.

You may wonder what a reference should actually contain, well an employer needs to be aware that they owe a duty of care to the employee. If you lie in a reference, a third party using the reference maybe able to take legal action against you. In a reference, you need to be truthful, accurate, fair and not misleading.

The best way to think of a reference is that old saying “if you haven’t got anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all”.