von Oliver Driver-Polke

The only thing I really look at in an applicant's letter of reference is the final paragraph.

Human resources manager

of a client

Why get into disputes over letters of reference? Such disputes are generally emotionally charged and of no economic benefit for an employer. Read this article to find out how an employer can express that it welcomes an employee's departure despite a favorable performance evaluation.

Letters of reference serve as an employee's "business card" for future job applications and are of considerable importance for professional advancement. At termination of employment, an employee will therefore generally express a desire for a letter of reference that is as favorable as possible. While an employer may not attest to a lack of experience or a failure to complete work assignments, the liability risks of providing a letter of reference that is "overly positive" are manageable (Hofer/Hengstberger, NZA-RR 2020, p. 118), which is why a business-minded employer should enter into a dispute about a letter of reference only in rare cases.

A letter of reference usually closes with a paragraph to the effect that the employer regrets the employee's departure, thanks the employee for their services, and wishes them all the best for the future. If one (or more) of the three elements is missing, this will likely give a positively inclined reader pause and cause the reader to view the candidate more critically.

In extreme cases, to avoid a dispute, an employer may even go as far as to accept the wording requested by the employee, but "slim down" the final paragraph. Conversely, employees should make sure that the final paragraph is in line with what is standard in the business and, if necessary, make concessions in the body of the letter.

In other words, an employer is permitted to express a certain degree of dissatisfaction also, and with much less legal risk, by omitting parts of the final paragraph:

This is because the Federal Labor Court (BAG) recently confirmed once again (judgment of January 25, 2022 - 9 AZR 146/21) that an employee is not entitled to wording such as "We thank the employee for their work and wish them much success in the future" at the end of a letter of reference. This is because, unlike many regional labor courts, the Federal Labor Court does not view the "thank you and success" language merely as polite phraseology with no reference to reality. In the view of the Federal Labor Court, an employer's obligation to express feelings that it does not have towards a departing employee infringes on the employer's freedom of expression.

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