Reference Checking – A Double Edged Sword

It occurs to me that if you uncover one or a series of shortcomings in a job applicant from their referees whilst reference checking; and you take the applicant to task about these shortcomings prior to appointing him to the position; and worse still you confirm the discussion about the shortcomings in the letter of appointment, then you may have created a monster for yourself. Why? You may well ask!

The reason being is that you may have made the appointment in the knowledge of the shortcomings and confirmed your prior knowledge of the shortcomings in the letter of appointment, thus precluding you from using these same shortcomings against the employee at a later date as a basis for termination because you may be found to have made the appointment in the clear light of day after discovering the shortcomings from the referees and not taking the necessary steps in the appointment process to deal with this knowledge.

One way to avoid this problem is to draft a letter of appointment that details the shortcomings of the appointee and sets down the agreed standards that will need to be met by the appointee during the probation period for the appointee to satisfactorily complete the probation period.  Further there needs to be a regular monitoring of the appointee’s performance against the agreed standards during the probation period, such that if the appointee is not confirmed in the appointment at the conclusion of the probation period, this does not come as a surprise to the appointee and the valid reasons for terminating the employment are properly established and the appointee has been accorded procedural fairness and natural justice.

Make sense? If not, call Mike Fitz Gerald on 0419907443 to discuss further.

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