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Unit: Senior Management Team
Date last reviewed: 09 02/0116/20152016
Date of next review: September 2016
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The university policies that are relevant to the issue of reference checking are in the University's Human Resources Policy Manual. Policy 6.13.4 on Operating Practices stipulates what information can be made available that is contained in current or former employees' files: Public information such as name, confirmation of employment, position title, and dates of employment. Requests by Federal, State or local law enforcement agencies would be referred to Day Hall without exceptions. Policy 6.6.2 on Reference Checking outlines procedures for hiring supervisors to follow when doing reference checks.
When a hiring supervisor does reference checks on prospective employees, he/she has to get their consent to talk to their references. In fact, the library and university human resources offices are quite clear on this point. The hiring supervisor may not talk to a current employer without the candidate's permission. This prohibition, however, only applies to candidates who are not Cornell employees. It is not necessary for Cornell employees who work in other departments because all Cornell departments or offices (including those at Weill Cornell) are seen legally as one employer. However, in most cases professional courtesy mandates that candidates should be informed before supervisors or colleagues in another department are contacted.
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