Dear Inland Revenue Department,

I would like to know why IRD has a policy that does not allow them to provide work references to former employees?

The existence of such a policy is oppressive, unfair and especially detrimental to ex- employees future career opportunities.

Any such policy needs to be conveyed to all potential employees of IRD prior to starting their employment.

Yours sincerely,

D Dahya

Dear Mr Daldorf,

Thank you for your response dated 3/7/17 which states "IR does not generally issue written references to employees other than a 'Statement of service' " and "Leaders may offer to provide a verbal work reference , commenting on work activities and performance of employees..."

Your response indicates that only IRD Leaders may provide verbal references (but not written ones) and are not obligated to provide one at all.

I have it on good authority and I completely trust the sources that advised me that the policy does not allow any references to be issued at all only service records. One such source happens to be my former manager (Lauren Tapp) who I trust completely and would have absolutely no reason to mislead me in anyway at all as she is a professional & experienced long term IRD employee who is fully aware of the importance and significance a reference has in securing one's future employment, while the other source was Paul Gillespie (Senior Solicitor,Corporate Legal) in 2014 who fully supported my former managers response ie he advised that IR is not required to provide a reference and employees aren't entitled to one.

So either your response is incorrect or there may be variations of this policy amongst different departments/business units within IRD. I would like this point clarified once and for all.

I do have questions relating to the existing policy and ask for responses to each of them below.

Questions:

-Currently is there a requirement to notify potential employees of this policy prior to their employment with IRD and, if so, is it in written form?

- At what point are employees made aware of this policy?

- Do you consider this policy potentially oppressive or obstructive if applicants are not advised of this policy prior to signing an employment agreement and if references are only provided in verbal form?

- Is there not more of a requirement for future employees/applicants to be advised of this policy prior to the start of their employment with IRD on the basis that only verbal references will be provided, not written ones, and is not mandatory to provide one at all?

- What happens in the following scenario where the Leader has left the organisation and can no longer be contacted and an employment opportunity is dependant on the provision of a reference for a former employee?

How then, are you able to obtain a reference if written references are not provided?

*This is where a written reference is preferred over a verbal one.

Regarding the above scenario is the current policy ineffective?

Does this not leave the power of employment opportunities in the hands of the Leader after the employee's departure?

- Does the current policy clearly state references can only be provided by a certain (or only one) leader ie a manager etc, and verbally only and that the Leader is not obligated to provide one?

-Does it explain what to do if that Leader leaves the organisation after the employee does?

- Should the policy allow for a written reference to be provided?

- I earned a salary increase during my time there but did not have access to a reference because of the policy -if this is correct should the policy be changed?

- Do future employees have right to know about the policy prior to employment?

- Are employees disadvantaged by not being informed of this policy prior to employment at IRD?

-Is it correct that employees have access to this policy after he/she has signed an employment agreement?

- How is any potential employee able to inquire, challenge, object to the terms of this policy if they are not made aware of it prior to their employment term?

Points:

- I have been advised on atleast 2 occasions that the policy does not allow references to be provided by
L Tapp and P Gillespie in 2014.

- I trust my former manager's response completely especially if her response has been supported by IR's legal person.

- I earned a salary increase during my time there but did not have access to a reference because of the policy and have missed out on many job opportunities because of it.

- I myself was not able to obtain a reference from my manager because of the policy. I personally did not see this policy and did not have access to it after my employment when I was advised of its existence.

Lastly, I believe that to be advised of this policy at the end of one's employment term is ineffective and obstructive.

For transparency sake employees should be made aware of this policy prior to employment as it directly impacts on subsequent employment endeavours as the existence of such a policy is oppressive, unfair and, especially, detrimental to ex-employees future career opportunities.

The policy should be flexible enough to allow for more than one Leader to provide a reference (for varying reasons) and should be, if the requester prefers, in writing and not limited to a verbal one.

Yours sincerely,

D Dahya

Dear oia,

Firstly, I will respond in full to your last letter dated 2/11/17 but for now here is one important reply to your response.

Regarding my questions 'i, Currently is there a requirement to notify potential employees of this policy prior to their employment with IRD and, if so, is it in written form? & ii, At what point are employees made aware of this policy?'

Your response to them:

The 'Ending Employment Policy is part of IRD's People Policies & Guidelines.
There is no requirement to notify potential employees of our 'Ending Employment Policy' before they are employed. However, anyone who is going through our recruitment process can ask to see our 'People Policies & Guidelines'.

Our 'People Policies & Guidelines' are published on the staff intranet . All staff can access the policy at any time , from the day they start working at IRD.

My response to this;

'As my question indicates any employee would not be aware of this policy ie that written references are not provided, and so, would NOT know to ask this question nor look for the answer during their tenure.

IRD must realise that, to the employee, this information is important, relevant & significant (as it impacts on livelihood ie future employment) to any employee during and after their employment at IRD.

This then emphasis the significance of my 2nd question 'At what point are employees made aware of this policy?'

In it's current state the policy appears to disadvantage any former employee.

I await for your response to this.

Yours sincerely,

D Dahya