I’ve had 3 clients recently who were dealing with either malicious off the record references from a former manager they worked for – for years – and received good performance reviews, raises and positive feedback. However, some event happened with each person and the result was that the former manager got revenge with a combination of slanderous off the record references or even just inferring that the person was not eligible for rehire.
One of my clients was very confused because he’d worked there for years, he gave notice and resigned to move to a new city and found out months later that this manager had marked his employee file as not eligible for rehire. He had no idea. He always received good reviews and raises. He told me that his manager was extremely angry when he gave a month’s notice and moved to a new city to join his partner.
Do Not Rehire is a new form of employment terrorism waged by small minded hiring managers who have a vendetta against someone who performed well. They couldn’t get them on performance so they wait until the person resigns and do not disclose that they are marking them for life as a do not rehire. It’s unethical, immoral and potentially illegal.
If you see a vindictive behavioral pattern with your manager, do not hope for the best. Hope is not a strategy. Plan a meeting with your HRBP if you are leaving and receive written confirmation of what is going into your employee file and also request a copy of it based on the laws in your state. Do not assume that because you received good reviews and raises that an unscrupulous manager cannot harm you for years to come by corrupting the data at the time of your resignation.
As the #metoo movement has shown, HR does not always do its job. That’s why you need to protect your employability.