How can i find out if my previous employer if giving potential employers a bad reference about me?

Question

i have been in the medical field for over 20 years and i left my last employer because of a dispute. now I can't find a job ANYWHERE, if they are giving out a bad reference, what can be done about it?

Answer 1

They are doing exactly that with my sister.  I would have someone call them checking out your references.  The question,  that was a kicker, that I asked, was "Would you hire this employee back?"  They said no, but were not legally able to explain why.

Best of luck to your sister.

Answer 2

You can have a friend call and pretend to be a potential employer for you.

But, about the only thing you can do if they are giving a bad reference is to let the potential employers know that your former employer will give a bad reference, and give you side of the story. Then it is up to them to decide who they want to believe.

Answer 3

Call & pretend you are looking for a reference.  I am not sure what the legality of it is, but I know at the company I work for, we can only answer IF you worked here and for how long. IF they ask I can say if you are "re-hirable" or not. I cannot comment on your work or abilities.  I don;t know if that is just the company policy (it is a large corp.) or if there is a legal reason behind that. Maybe you want to ask that question if you find out they are giving a poor reference.

Answer 4

Have a friend pose as a potential employer and call your previous employer for a reference.  See what they say.  If they are telling lies about you, you can sue them for slander.

Answer 5

William had the best answer. Privacy laws. If you were to have someone pose as a employer over the phone I would might notify them at the end of the call that it was recoreded and see if there is No Objections to the recording. Tell them you will also be faxing a letter for Verificaton.

As long as the do not object to you recording the call and the Faxed letter you will have the information you need.

Common sense says if you worked in 1 location for 20years you must have been doing something correct

Answer 6

I never give a reference over the phone.

I demand a signed release from who they want the information on. They fax them 99.99% of the time.

Privacy laws people.