Originally Posted by Bish

As a follow up to my son being told " something came up in your background investigation." No letter was received today from Human Resources. My son called Human Resources and was now told to fax or place in writing a request as to what their decision is based on. No one is willing to talk to him. He was also told that the investigator is under no obligation to explain to my son what he reported. My son has never been arrested, done drugs or drink. He had as one of his references the Chairperson of the Criminal Justice department at a Ma. State College. The investigator was unable to get in touch however. He also had high school teachers listed on his resume. He was an honor roll student in H.S and received a town scholarship at graduation. His 1st job was as a residential counselor for 3 months in a contract facility of DYS and he left because health insurance that had been promised after 3 mos did not come. He then worked as a residential counselor for 18 months in a facility with mentally handicapped individuals with criminal records. They only paid him $10.00 an hr. He left that job for a better paying job as a counselor at another house and gave only 1 week notice because he was under the impression the new place needed him rigt away. They were a close affiliate with his prior employment and they asked him to go back and work the 2nd week which he did. He remained at this new home for only a month and left along with his supervisor because they didn't feel comfortable with the way the house was being operated. He didn't put that 2nd home down on his application because it was only a month and his concerns were validated because the house is now closed. He scored an 80 on the CPO test. He was still given the impression all was ok and a letter was received for him to report for the final stage of pre-screening tomorrow (PAT, physical etc.) only to be called last Fri. and told something came up and not to report. Why can't they just let us know what it is?

Originally Posted by KozmoKramer

Hey Bish - how far back does the DOC go for employment references? 5, 10 years? The Cradle?

C.O. I - FedUp - that is a gross misnomer concerning employment law that I hear all too frequently.
There are no specific laws in any state that I have ever come across which prevent furnishing a truthful negative reference.
Anytime an employer adopts that philosophy it it almost always based on internal policy decisions of the employer.


And at the very least a reference can and usualy does include:

• Dates of Employment
• Compensation and Wage History (including increases \ decreases)
• Job Description including Responsibilities and Duties
• Training and Education provided by the employer
• and MOST IMPORTANTLY:

Any acts of violence, theft, harassment, or illegal conduct which are documented in the employees personnel record and have resulted in legal action and \ or disciplinary termination.

Now that being said, almost all (if not all) states states do have legal protections making it illegal for an employer to intentionally provide false information about you.
Please do not be fooled into thinking an ex-employer cannot provide honest negative information about you if it is demonstrably true.
If anybody has a concern about an ex-employer, I would at the very least request a copy of your entire personnel folder.
Usually any red flags (if any) will be in there, but your boss can also editorialize (especially on a telephone), and if it is true; good luck fighting it in court...