What can I legally say in a reference — and can I refuse to give one?

The answer Just Ask, HR gives

Concise Charlie — Direct, no fluff — the bottom line first.

Bottom line: you can refuse, you can keep it factual, or you can give a full reference — but whatever you give must be true, accurate and fair. Those three words are the whole law of references.

Your three lawful options:

• Decline. No general legal duty to provide a reference (outside regulated sectors like financial services). But be consistent — refusing only for certain ex-employees, or only after someone raised a grievance, creates discrimination/victimisation exposure.
• Factual-only reference (the SME gold standard): dates, job title, "it is our policy to provide factual references only". Safe, quick, increasingly the norm — adopt it as written policy and apply it to everyone.
• Full reference: lawful, but you owe a duty of care to both the ex-employee and the recipient (Spring v Guardian Assurance). Everything must be accurate and give a fair overall impression — no cherry-picking the worst, no airing suspicions never put to them, no mentioning allegations that were never investigated or upheld.

On "reason for leaving": if they were dismissed for performance, you may say so — truthfully and neutrally ("dismissed following a capability process"). What you must not do is soften it to "resigned" in writing and then torpedo them by phone; misleading references in either direction create liability (to the new employer for negligent misstatement if too kind, to the ex-employee if unfairly harsh).

Practical rules: put it in writing, keep a copy, mark it "private and confidential — for the addressee", and remember the ex-employee can obtain it later via a subject access request to the recipient. Write every reference as if they'll read it — because they can.