Employment and financial references

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.

Ask for a financial reference

Employment references 

Ask for a reference 

Before an employer makes a formal offer, they will usually ask for an employment reference.   

If you're asked to provide a reference and your manager still works here, you should:

• ask your manager’s permission, and ask how they wish to be contacted
• let your manager know who will be contacting them and when

If you're asked to provide a reference and your manager no longer works here, you can either:

• ask your prospective employer to request this by emailing people.support@essex.gov.uk
• raise a request for an employment reference on the Assyst portal

The reference will only provide factual information such as dates of employment, job titles, and jobs held. We would never disclose information relating to sickness absence.

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.​