The council provides 2 types of references for its employees:
- financial references
- employment references
Financial references
Financial references mortgages and tenancy agreements are provided by People Support.
When a reference request comes into the council, People Support will email the employee to confirm they are happy for the council to provide the information. Once confirmed, People Support will issue it to the requestor.
Employment references
Ask for an reference
An employment reference is usually from a current or previous employer.
Ask your line manager or former line manager to provide an employment reference.
If your line manager is no longer employed by the council, then you should ask People Support to provide a basic reference.
Writing an employment reference
Where an employee reference request is sent to People Support they will forward the request along with supporting information to the current or former line manager for completion.
Providing references policy (PDF, 168KB)
When providing a reference you should use the standard employment reference template (DOC, 107 KB).
If you are unable to use the template letter, you must make sure that you only provide basic factual information, such as:
- dates of employment
- job titles
- jobs held
If you receive a reference request for an employee that currently works for you, you will be able view their employment dates in My Oracle.
If asked about sickness absence you should use the following sentence 'To avoid any unlawful discrimination, we never disclose information relating to sickness absence of any Essex County Council employee'.
Store a copy of the reference
Once completed, the manager should upload a copy to the employee's personnel record, if they are still employed. If the employee is no longer with us, the request will need to be stored by People Support.
Disciplinary or safeguarding concerns
If the employee has been subject to a disciplinary process or there have been findings against them, even if the employee left before the process was completed, it may be considered misleading to only provide a standard reference (for example where there are safeguarding concerns).
If you have been asked to provide an employment reference in these circumstances, contact People Support for advice to ensure that the appropriate details are included.