Past jobs on BI apps?The Good,bad,and ugly?

[rent-a-cop]

Does anyone know of any kind of law that says a past employer can only give dates of employment, and type of seperation(quit,fired,2 weeks notice),or can they give personal feelings about you? I know that some companies have a "non-bias"policy,that only allows them to give dates of employment and whether you quit with notice or were fired. If any supervisor gives negative feedback on you,you can file some kind of charges on them or something.

I am asking because I am working a sh*t,temporary job unloading trucks at a dept. store,and my weirdo supervisor and asst. manager are busting my balls for everything they can, and I'm probably on the verge of being fired.Plus, today I gave the asst. manager some serious attitude while being chastised for "standing around". I don't want to hide this job on an app., and have it found on a SS # job search bt a BI, but on the flip side of the coin, if I disclose it, they may contact this job for a "character reference". I'm still alright with the 2 head managers of the store, so I may still be OK.
Damn, it's always the small sh*t that comes back to kick you in the balls later, and I don't want this job to be one of them. Any help on employers right to give a personal opinion to a BI would be very helpful.

[mr_chuck]

I think that alot of that will probably depend on the state that you live in. I know in Cali, only employment dates, type of severance (voluntary, terminated, etc) and salary (if the employee chooses to allow it) can be given. I had to give my BI a written statement of permission to to look thru my employee file to boot!

[rdp]

There is a law concerning that. The only info they should provide is hire dates and eligible for rehire. That is it. Some say it includes job title also. We did release that with my former job.

In LE, most places have you sign a release. This allows them to contact ALL of your former employers concerning your employment. This is needed for a good work history.

One bad employer won't ruin you, but you may have to explain it to the BI. Not every job is going to be perfect and this is just part of life. The dept. knows that.

[txinvestigator1]

There is NO national law concerning releasing employment information It is on a state by state basis. Run a search and you will see several threads on this.

In Texas I can legally tell them anything I wish. There is a misconception that there is a broad based national law limiting the release of information, because most employers are concerned about being sued. If the information is anything but factual it leaves the employer open for civil suits. I will leave it to the lawyers here to tell you if opinions and false statements would be slander or liable.

When I am asked for information on a current or previous employee I consider why the information is being asked, and what purpose it would serve for me to release that info.

If you were a turd and a mortgage company or potential employer where you being a turd is not likely to cause a problem for the public or society, then I just gives dates and eligibility for rehire. If a LEO agency calls, rest assured we will discuss your turdness.

[rent-a-cop]

It just sucks that one person in the "Management Chain"of a business can not like you for some reason, legit or not,and then if a police dept. wants a character reference, your ex-boss will make you sound like a psychopath, because they took it personal when you(left 2 min.early,called out on a weekend,looked at them sideways,etc.) Even if they can't talk about your performance, it can't look good if you got terminated. Maybe I should "drop my deuce"(2 weeks notice) before I get sacked.
Thanks for your input, txinvestigator,rdp,and mr_chuck.

Later:cool:

[rdp]

That is just one job.........now if all of your jobs have the same opinion about or there are similar complaints, then there is a problem area.

[Jaime]

I don’t think you guys are giving the BI enough credit, I think they can tell the difference between someone saying bad things about you because they didn’t like you and you actually being a bad employee.