My position was eliminated due to corporate restructuring. Multiple people were affected. When I asked my boss & manager for letters of recommendation, both of them told me they were not allowed to write them for anybody. Is this common practice? Or is this just a sub-class company?
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3You might want to disclose where the company is located. In some countries such as Germany the company is obliged by law to write a letter of recommendation.– PatrickSep 19, 2018 at 14:06
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1In addition to your location, what is your industry? In the US at least, people don't really use letters of recommendation anymore unless you work in academia.– David KSep 19, 2018 at 14:25
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1Also for the US, to protect themselves from potential lawsuits, many companies will only confirm that you worked there and for how long. They do not let staff give recommendations– cdkMooseSep 19, 2018 at 15:28
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Having been laid off before, I was also told my manager couldn't provide a reference for me. But I learned that the other people I worked with were fair game. I ended up asking a program manager for a reference instead.– jcmackSep 19, 2018 at 18:54
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This may be a misunderstanding over terminology - when you say letter of recommendation, do you mean a formal reference, or like a personal reference/recommendation? At my last company it was the policy that formal references could only come from HR, whereas personal recommendations from managers and such were fine as long as it was clear they were personal (i.e. they couldn't be sent out on company letter-headed paper).– delinearSep 20, 2018 at 9:04
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2 Answers
Sadly (at least in the US) this is very common. Companies do not want to give letters of recommendation and they don't want managers (or other employees) to give references. Everything is supposed to go through HR, with HR only giving dates of employment, job titles and a "would you rehire" statement (which was always "yes" unless fired for something illegal). The reason given is this provides cover to the employer for (potentially) negative information. They did not want to be liable for any misunderstanding.
When my position was "eliminated" 2½ years ago (code for I was too old) I was told I would not get a letter of recommendation and the people I worked for could not give direct references.
So how to get around this? I had paper copies of my annual reviews. These stated what I worked on, results, peer feedback and manager feedback. These had both the ratings, manager review and my response. These were sufficient for my new employer as a reference.
answered Sep 19, 2018 at 15:02
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Without knowing your location, this is the best answer you can get :)– StraderSep 19, 2018 at 15:12
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1If you choose the rout of using your annual reviews, make sure that they don't contain any information that would fall under an NDA or otherwise you could get in all sorts of trouble.– rasan076Sep 19, 2018 at 15:41
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Joe - they gave me 12½ months of severance. With my skills I knew I'd find a job soon (I did). So. I was getting two paychecks for 8 months - which my wife gladly spent... Sep 19, 2018 at 21:03
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"... code for I was too old ..." - Lol, I experienced similar. My manager told me I was too old and could not keep up with the young guys. When HR released me I was told I was a "bad fit". It is too bad companies are allowed to hire H1-B's while letting go older workers. Another Congressional failure in the US.– user25792Oct 8, 2018 at 15:04
When I asked my boss & manager for letters of recommendation, both of them told me they were not allowed to write them for anybody. Is this common practice?
In my personal experience on both sides of the layoff equation spanning more than 40 years of employment, this is not common.
I have written and I have received letters of recommendation after layoffs.
That said, letters are pretty much useless. Being a reference is useful. Again I have been on both sides of this - being a reference and using a reference from a company where layoffs occurred.
I haven't personally encountered any company that didn't permit managers from writing letters of recommendation after restructuring layoffs.
answered Sep 19, 2018 at 17:35
