Termed/laid off employee wants letter for reference
Let me start by saying we laid off/fired this employee . We told her it was due to downsizing and that we couldn't afford her and some other reasons
She wants a letter of reference.
My reasons for not giving one:
She was a part time employee and wasn't always prompt.
She had many personal issues that carried over into her job on a daily basis (ex husband/court/kids etc).
Her cell phone rang constantly.
She sent text messages all day wheile working.
She was in charge of seniding hrs to payroll company and we recently found out she padded her own time sheet(because no one else needed to look at it-we have since had a policy change on that!)
She didn't know Accounting as well as she said she did (She was on a first name basis with Quickbooks technical help and for payroll too)
She was very gossipy and in a small company of under 10 people - you know THAT doesn't go over well!
She couldn't even answer email in a timely manner!
Good points?
She was great with customers- they liked her
She could do well with collections and get money from a stone
She was ALWAYS pleasant
She was always willing to help
She was great on the basic Admin duties
She cleaned well (part of her duties)
Id like to tell het I can't offer a letter of reference but will agree to be a business reference if they call to ask... but even then- don't really want to but will just because I think its better to NOT burn this bridge (Im afraid of non legal repercussions from her friends and family)
Any suggestions on what we could say that told HR people to read between the lines and take it for what it was worth? Or should I just say no?
What do you think?