Acas launches new guidance on job references

Industrial relations service Acas has published new guidance to help employers and employees understand the rules governing employment references, based on common enquiries to its helpline.

The guidance covers a wide range of scenarios, including the provision of ‘bad’ references, whether an employer is obliged to provide a reference, the information that a reference can and cannot contain, the rights of employees to see references and the redress available to them if a reference leads to the withdrawal of a job offer.

The full guidance is available at www.acas.org.uk/references