What questions does your previous employer have to answer?

1. Dates you were employed.
2. Your job description or employment capacity.
3. Your salary information.

Some information is absolutely prohibited from disclosure:

1. School records, without your consent;
2. Criminal history, though this varies from state to state and the nature of the prospective employer;
3. Medical records, without your consent;
4. Questions about a disability you may have, unless that disability impinges directly on your ability to perform the job even if the prospective employer makes "reasonable accommodations";
5. Certain governmental records, such as personnel records of local or state employees (in some jurisdictions);
6. Your history of worker's compensation claim(s).

Legal Realities

Your previous employer does not have to answer any questions. (Remember the First Amendment? Freedom of speech is also freedom not to speak.) The past employer bears significant liability for a defamation action by you if it reveals any information that is both (1) untrue and (2) damaging to you. If the answer prevents your getting the job, it is damaging to you.

As stated at the beginning of this answer, most organizations, particularly large organizations, governmental organizations, and smaller organizations that have been given good advice by lawyers have very strict policies governing what information is allowed to be released about you.

If you are unsure about a potential reference there are several companies that will check your references for you and give a detailed report. Put "reference check" in a search engine and you will discover information about many such businesses.

If the referee is very pleased with you, (s)he may be inclined to give a glowing reference, but, again, the strict policies apply, and in today's era of litigation, the probability is that the organization will remain silent except for the three pieces of information mentioned at the beginning of this answer. Further, the referee that gives out the "glowing" reference may be exposing her or his organization to liability should your prospective employer suffer damages because of you--the present employer may bring an action against the referring employer for failing to disclose the negative information.

One way people gather information about applicants while reducing liability is for an individual person working for the prospective employer, acting, supposedly, "as an individual," to contact the referee at home in her or his capacity "as an individual," so that the referee is not acting as an agent of the organization. That way, sometimes, information flows more freely, but an individual contacted will still fear saying much that is negative about you for fear of a legal action by you, as already described, or a governmental entity, such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) or your state's version of the EEOC.

http://www.esrcheck.com/ESRPublications/Reference_Checking.html

Also, there is a fairly exhaustive essay on background checks on about.com:

http://jobsearch.about.com/cs/backgroundcheck/a/background.htm

First answer by anonymous. Last edit by Nickis2. Contributor trust: 21 [recommend contributor]. Question popularity: 325 [recommend question]