I am currently unemployed. I approached a staffing company which asked me for two supervisory references, which I provided. Upon contacting my former employer to check the references the staffing company told me my ex-supervisor was reluctant to talk to him citing a company policy against giving references. The staffing company is indicating they will not help me without the references. My question is: doesn't HIPAA Law prevent my former employer from providing any information other than the fact that they did employ me and the dates of my employment tenure?

I am wondering if you are working in the health care field. As HIPAA stands for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.

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The Administrative Simplification provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA, Title II) required the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish national standards for electronic health care transactions and national identifiers for providers, health plans, and employers. It also addressed the security and privacy of health data. As the industry adopts these standards for the efficiency and effectiveness of the nation's health care system will improve the use of electronic data interchange.

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No HIPAA has nothing to do with job references. It deals only wirh medicial information. There is actually no law that says a previous employer can only verify employment.

However, because of lawsuits about malcious references many companies have established a policy against giving them, opting instead, to just verifiy employment dates. If that's your former employers policy you can do nothing about it. If the prospective employer decides not to accept that, that's their prerogative.

No, there is no law restricting what a company can give and tell. Some companies will not give out references just as their policy, you can not force them to give one.

The only law is they can tell anything as long as it is true.

Thanks All! I guess I should ask is there anything in Federal Privacy Law that limits what my former employer can say, other than being bound by true statements? Also, can the staffing company refuse to look for employers on my behalf if my former employers are unwilling to talk?

When you make an application, you do sign a release, grsnting someone to verify your references. That form is usually sent with the form requesting the information.

Your former employer can speak the truth. But, as others have said, many employers are opting out of the long reference and only giving the dates of employment. They can hardly be sued for saying that. When I worked for a health care agency as the regional supervisor, I hired someone who had been fired from her previous position for stealing client's money. That was never listed on the reference sheet I got back. If it had, she certainly would not have worked for me. As things turned out, she stole again and I had to dismiss her. I was told not to say anything on her reference, just that she worked for me and the dates. It is a shame too, passing along a problem like that to someone else.

The staffing company can refuse to look for employers on your behalf if your former employers are unwilling to talk. I don't know what they would gain from that, but they can do that.

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Originally Posted by rick1313

Thanks All! I guess I should ask is there anything in Federal Privacy Law that limits what my former employer can say, other than being bound by true statements? Also, can the staffing company refuse to look for employers on my behalf if my former employers are unwilling to talk?

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As I said, there is no law preventing or forcing a previous employer to give a reference of any kind. The only limit is that any information dispersed be accurate.

A staffing company can make any policy they wish to about references or filling positions as long as it doesn't violate anti-discrimination laws.