Checking references: What you need to do
"References are vitally important to the private duty home care industry. Your employees work in your clients’ homes, generally away from your supervision. If something were to go wrong, the best protection you can have against a negligent hiring suit would be to show that you attempted to do everything you possibly could to make sure that you hire the right person," says Mel Kleiman, founder and president of Houston-based Humetrics Inc., and managing partner of the Hire Tough group.
According to Kleiman, you should always get references from job applicants during their interview process. "No. 1, I recommend a section for references as part of your application blank. But even more importantly, you should use a separate document called a reference release form," he says. (See form, right.)
This is a form an applicant signs, giving you permission to check their references. Humetrics’ form requires the applicant to check boxes for such specific indicators of past job as dependability, initiative, customer service, honesty, and overall performance.
"This form becomes a tremendous interviewing tool. It actually makes anybody a better interviewer in less than one minute," says Kleiman. "For example, all I have to do is say, Mary, you said that when I talked to your last supervisor, he would rank you as outstanding in customer service. Tell me exactly why he’s going to rank you outstanding.’ Or, Give me some specific examples that make you outstanding in customer service.’ One question you should always ask in an interview is: When I check your references, what are they going to tell me about you?’"
Kleiman advises clients to always ask fact-specific questions when you do reference-checking. Be sure you confirm that:
• applicants did work for a prior employer during the time they said they did;
• what the job/position was;
• if they are eligible for rehire.
Concentrate on your questioning skills
You may have to get a bit cagey to find out the information you need. As long as you stay with asking for confirmation of what your applicant has told you, there’s usually a way to get it. For example, you can ask a personnel manager who clearly doesn’t want to give you much information, Can you tell me the last job she held before she came to work for you?’ By approaching it this way, you can build an applicant’s work history.
"Remember that as part of recruiting you ask for references from people they have worked with, not people they have worked for, "Kleiman says. "One of the most effective things you can do is to contact the people they have worked with and tell them, You were given as a personal reference.’ What you’ll find out is how they saw your applicants in their former jobs. When you check personal references, you get more information than you ever do when you check for company references because companies are more aware than are individuals that they can be sued."
Kleiman emphasizes the need to have a form that gives you the right to check references. Interestingly enough, he says that 90% of the people you ask for references will try and tell you something. He recommends always asking to speak with an applicant’s immediate supervisor because you always want to try and talk directly to the person the applicant worked for.
"Normally when you speak with an applicant’s immediate supervisor, you’ll get sent to the human resources department, which is not going to tell you anything. You have to be able to deal with that. I do it by saying, I’d be delighted to talk to human resources, but can you at least confirm something for me? Sue said she worked for you from May of 1995 to May of this year. Is that basically the right time frame?’ Then keep going. She said she worked as a home health care associate. Can you confirm that this was her job?’"
If the supervisor balks at giving that information, say that you’ll be glad to talk to human resources, but Just let me ask you one more question. When I asked Sue how you would rank her in patient care, she said you would rank her as outstanding. Can you confirm that? I just have one last, quick question, and I’ll be out of your way: If it was up to you, knowing what you know about Sue today, would she be eligible for rehire?’"
Kleiman never asks a supervisor to just "tell me about" a former employee. "Note that I didn’t ask the supervisor for any information I hadn’t already been given by the applicant. All I asked for was confirmation of what the applicant told me. But if the former supervisor willingly confirms that information and become more talkative, I’d move out of that box and ask something like, What was her greatest strength in patient care?’"
Liability protection
When checking references, use specific instances from your interview: Let’s assume you hit a really tough supervisor, one who says "I can’t tell you anything; it’s against company policy."
Kleiman answers this along these lines: "I really appreciate that. You know, one of the things that’s so important today is protecting ourselves from liability. When I asked Sue why you would rank her as above-average, she told me about this particular patient you had nobody seemed to be able to do anything with, but when Sue took care of him, he wrote a letter saying how wonderful she was. Did that really happen?’
"You’re going to get people who are not going to tell you anything. Just keep asking them if they can confirm what the applicant has already told you. When you hit a brick wall, say to the person on the other end of the line, Let me just tell you that I am documenting the fact that we did attempt to check references with you, and I did ask you if this person is eligible for rehire; and if there is any reason you know of that would put me in a negligent hiring position if I hire this applicant, and you refused to answer that question. I am doing this, because if there is a problem with liability, I have documented the fact that you refused to give this information. I hope you recognize that you now have the liability.’ If this home health care aide did something negligent that got her fired, and the employer who fired her refuses to let me know that, I have done everything I can possibly do can to avoid a negligent hiring suit. The former employer has put me in a position where I can’t do anything more."
If a former supervisor has documented facts that your applicant has, for example, been terminated for gross negligence for bringing alcohol into a patient’s home and fails to share that information with you, he is guilty of negligent misrepresentation.
The other side reads, Protect yourself’
The other side of the reference coin is about giving them, and you want to protect yourself as much as you can. Say you’ve got a particular former employee with a problem. You need to deal with it. How do you tell somebody, "You shouldn’t hire this person"? The key to that lies in one very simple statement: Answer the question that the reason for termination was a violation of company policy.’
Always remember:
• When you are called about a former employee, never give any information unless the person asking the questions can demonstrate his need to know that information. Verify that the person doing the asking is who he says he is by getting the phone number of his company and then calling him back.
• When you are asked to give references, always ask if the person seeking the reference has a reference release form from the applicant that holds you harmless for answering the question. Before you tell anyone anything, get a copy of that form for your files, and read it carefully.
Kleiman cites an example about one of his former employees to point out the need for caution. "She was wonderful, she was dependable; just do not expect her to be on work on time," he says. "She’d show up somewhere between 8:30 and 9:30. But she was good, reliable, and wonderful and I didn’t care what time she got in, because she would work until 9:30 at night if she needed to. But when she applied to work for another company, they sent me a reference release form that said she would have access to any information I gave about her. I refused to sign it or give them references. Whatever I say is confidential. I don’t want it released to the applicant. After all, if this employer needs her to be at work on time every day, I’m going to have to advise against hiring her. And then what happens? He tells her, Mel said don’t hire her!’"
Kleiman also counsels that when one of your employees applies for work with another company, make sure that you have a copy of a release form signed by the applicant that says the new prospective employer has your former employee’s permission to obtain this information before answering any questions. "You need a separate form from the prospective employer that says they will indemnify you from liability for telling a prospective employer the truth," he says. "Their indemnification should also cover you at the time somebody fills it out. Many application blanks say that an employer has a right to check references, but don’t indemnify a former employer from liability in giving that information. Don’t give information to anybody unless they give you a hold harmless clause signed by the applicant."
(Editor’s Note: The inserted forms are copyrighted to Humetrics Inc., and are reproduced with written permission.)
• Mel Kleiman, President, Humetrics Corp., 8300 Bissonnet, Suite 490, Houston, TX 77074. Telephone: (713) 771-4401, ext.19. Fax: (713) 771-0501. E-mail: [email protected].
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