References

Q. Does an employer have to provide a reference when an employee applies for a new job, and is the employee allowed to see it?

A. An employer is not obliged to provide a reference about an employee - but if they do provide one, it must be true, accurate and fair.

Furthermore, if an employer refuses to provide a reference for discriminatory reasons where they would usually provide one, this can be an act of discrimination in itself.

An employee can make a "subject access" request under the Data Protection Act 1998 to see the reference. This request must be made in writing, and should state that it is a subject access request. It should be sent to the company that received the reference (rather than the one that wrote it), and that company is entitled to charge £10 for it.