01 November 2019

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has announced its intention to consult on proposals to make employers provide references to workers.

Business Secretary, Andrea Leadsom, claimed that such legislation would help to prevent the exploitation of workers.

Claiming that her plans were part of a wider initiative to prevent the intimidation of workers, such as through non-disclosure agreements, she said that employers threaten to withhold references when workers seek new employment to "pressure employees into silence, often in cases of serious wrongdoing".

The proposal to consult on this change to the law follows other recently announced government plans, such as legislation to ensure non-disclosure agreements include an explanation of their limits in plain English, to introduce the right to independent legal advice for those signing such agreements, and making void any agreement that does not abide by the law.