To give a good reference over the phone, work only from documented facts about the person’s job performance, stay inside your employer’s reference policy, confirm the former employee has authorized you to speak, and steer clear of any topic that touches a protected characteristic or a settled dispute. The call itself is short. The preparation and the boundaries around it are what keep the reference useful to the recruiter and safe for you.
Check What Your Employer Allows
Before you agree to take the call, find out what your company’s reference policy actually permits. Many employers keep a neutral-reference policy that limits disclosures to job title, dates of employment, and sometimes salary. Those policies exist to reduce legal exposure, and going around them, even with good intentions, can lead to discipline or termination and create problems for the company if another former employee later claims they were treated differently.
If your employer does allow qualitative references, confirm the route. Some companies channel every inquiry through HR. Others let supervisors speak directly as long as they follow certain guidelines. Know which applies before you pick up the phone.
There’s also a difference between speaking as a company representative and speaking as a personal contact. A reference given in your capacity as someone’s manager carries the company’s name and its liability. Framing a call as “personal” doesn’t reliably shift that, and if your employer’s policy prohibits references, the personal label won’t protect you internally either.
Get the Candidate’s Written Consent
Beyond basic employment verification, don’t share anything without the former employee’s authorization. A signed release is the standard: it spells out what you’re allowed to discuss (performance, reasons for leaving, specific skills) and releases you and your employer from liability for providing that information in good faith. A typical form lets the employee indicate whether they consent to a verbal reference, a written one, or both.
Verbal consent works in a pinch, but a signed form is far better protection if a dispute comes up later. If a recruiter calls and you don’t have anything on file, confirm only the basics, then ask for a release before going further. That’s standard practice, not overcaution.
Prepare Before You Talk
The difference between a useful reference and a forgettable one comes down to preparation. Pull the person’s job description, their most recent resume if you have it, and any performance evaluations from their time with you. These keep your answers grounded in specifics instead of two-year-old impressions.
Write down two or three concrete examples of their work: a project they led, a problem they solved, a measurable result. Quantifiable accomplishments carry weight. “She reduced customer complaints by 40% after redesigning the intake process” lands harder than “She was great with customers.” Revenue numbers, cost cuts, turnaround improvements, team growth — those are exactly what recruiters want, and they’re safely factual.
Verify the exact employment dates. A gap between what you say and what the candidate put on the application creates a red flag for no good reason. If you’re not sure, check with HR before the call.
Run the Call
Start by confirming who’s on the other end. Get the caller’s full name, their company, and the specific role the candidate is being considered for. This isn’t paranoia; it keeps sensitive information from going to someone who has no business hearing it. If something feels off, ask for a callback number and check it against the company’s public directory before you continue.
A basic screening call usually runs 10 to 15 minutes. A deeper dive for a finalist can go up to 30. Recruiters generally work through a standard set of questions: how long you worked together, what the person’s responsibilities were, how they handled pressure or conflict, and what their strongest qualities are. Notes in front of you let you answer smoothly.
Stay inside the scope you’ve been authorized to discuss. If a question goes outside your company’s policy or into personal territory, “I’m not able to speak to that” is enough. You don’t owe an explanation for the boundary. A short summary at the end of why the person would or wouldn’t fit the role gives the recruiter a clean takeaway.
Handle the Hard Questions
Recruiters almost always ask about weaknesses, and that’s where most references either freeze up or say something they regret. Reframe weaknesses as areas for growth, tied to specific past behavior instead of character judgments. “He sometimes struggled with managing multiple stakeholders on complex projects, but he was actively working on that and improving” is both honest and constructive.
“Would you rehire this person?” is a loaded question. Some companies prohibit answering it at all, because the answer can imply reasons for termination that no one has been authorized to share. If your policy doesn’t address it directly, tread carefully. Redirect: “I can tell you that she consistently met her performance targets and was well-regarded by her team.”
Anchor anything you say about weaknesses to behavior you personally observed. “He missed deadlines on two projects in Q3” is defensible. “He has a bad attitude” is an opinion that can come back on you. The more specific and behavioral your feedback, the more useful it is to the recruiter and the safer it is for you.
Topics That Have to Stay Out of the Conversation
Federal anti-discrimination law draws a hard line around certain subjects. It is illegal to give a negative reference, or refuse to give one, because of race, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, and gender identity), religion, national origin, age (if the person is 40 or older), disability, or genetic information. Mentioning any of these during a reference call, even in passing, can expose your employer to a discrimination claim.
That means keeping medical history, family situation, religious practices, and other personal-life details out of the conversation entirely. “She took a lot of time off” sounds like a neutral comment about reliability, but if the time off was for a disability or pregnancy, you’ve just given the candidate grounds for a complaint.
Retaliation is another tripwire. If a former employee filed a discrimination complaint, participated in an investigation, or took any legally protected action, a negative reference in response is illegal. The EEOC specifically identifies unjustified negative job references as a form of post-employment retaliation.1U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Enforcement Guidance on Retaliation and Related Issues Even a factually accurate reference can create an inference of retaliation from the timing alone, and that’s expensive to defend.
Check for a settlement agreement before you say anything substantive. If your company settled a dispute with the former employee, whether it involved a termination, a harassment claim, or any other workplace conflict, a non-disparagement clause may restrict what anyone at the company can say. Some clauses specify exact language that must be used when a reference is requested. Violating one can reopen the settled matter and create breach-of-contract liability, which is worse than whatever the recruiter was hoping to learn. This is easy to miss when the reference call lands years later with a manager who wasn’t involved in the settlement.
One more caution on the positive side. If you know a former employee engaged in violent behavior, sexual misconduct, or other dangerous conduct, a glowing recommendation that hides that history can create liability under a doctrine called negligent referral if the person later harms someone in the new job. The line is between staying silent, which is generally protected, and actively painting a misleading picture, which isn’t. In that situation, decline the reference or stick to basic employment verification.
When to Say No
You’re never obligated to give a reference. If you didn’t work closely enough with the person to speak meaningfully, if your honest assessment would be overwhelmingly negative, or if your company’s policy prohibits it, declining is the right call.
The conversation doesn’t have to be awkward. If the candidate asks in advance, “I don’t think I’m the best person to give you a strong reference, but I wish you well” is direct and kind. If a recruiter calls without warning, “I’m not in a position to provide a reference for this individual” is enough. You don’t need to explain. A lukewarm or dishonest reference given under pressure helps no one and exposes you from both directions: the candidate can claim defamation if you shade negative, and the hiring company can blame you for a negligent referral if you hide something serious.
Ask Whether the Call Is Being Recorded
Because this is happening over the phone, the recruiter may be recording. Roughly a dozen states require all parties to consent before a call can be recorded, including California, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Washington. In the remaining states, only one party needs to consent, so the recruiter can record without telling you.
Ask at the start: “Is this conversation being recorded?” If yes and you’re not comfortable with that, you can decline or ask that the recording stop. If no, your own notes still serve as a record. Either way, knowing changes how carefully you weigh each word, and it’s another reason to stick to documented facts.
Write Down What You Said
After the call, note the date, the caller’s name and company, the questions asked, and what you said. Five minutes now can save you months later if someone claims you said something you didn’t. Contemporaneous notes showing that your statements came from documented performance data and were given in good faith are exactly the defense you’d want if a defamation or discrimination claim ever surfaced.
If your company logs reference calls through HR, use that system. If not, keep your own file. Truthful, documented, good-faith information is what protects you legally; the note in your file is what proves that’s what you gave.