DEPARTMENT: Human Resources / POLICY DESCRIPTION: Reference Inquiries
PAGE:1 of 2 / REPLACES POLICY DATED: 9/1/05, 10/1/05, 2/1/06, 7/1/06, 3/1/08, 1/1/09, 1/1/10, 8/1/10, 10/15/10, 2/1/11, 11/1/12
EFFECTIVE DATE: December 1, 2013 / REFERENCE NUMBER: HR.OP.028 (formerly HR.205)
APPROVED BY: Ethics and Compliance Policy Committee
SCOPE: All Company-affiliated subsidiaries including, but not limited to hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, outpatient imaging centers, physician practices, Parallon Workforce Management Solutions, service centers,Corporate Departments, Groups, and Divisions (collectively, “Affiliated Employers” and individually, “Affiliated Employer”).
PURPOSE: This policy provides guidance for the administration and dissemination of current and former employee reference information.
POLICY: All Affiliated Employers are to respond to requests to confirm the employment,income or to provide the reason for termination as defined by this policy on an employee.
PROCEDURE:
  1. Confirming Current Employment and/or Income Verification
The Company contracts with a vendor to provide employment verification and wage information to lenders, apartment managers, and other credit agencies to which a current or former employee may have made application. The service enables loan, rental or credit applications to be processed quickly and efficiently with minimal effort.
A current or former employee should sign an authorization allowing the release of information to a lender, apartment manager, or credit agency.
The lender or credit agencymay then access retrieving employee information.
If the lender or credit agency is unable to access must call
1-615-620-0569 to retrieve employee information.
All government agency requests should be mailed directly to:
Thomas and Thorngren, Inc.
One Vantage Way, Suite A105
P.O. Box 280100
Nashville, TN 37228
  1. Completing Termination and Reference Information
  1. Affiliated Employers must educate all employees that following an employee’s termination of employment, it is the Affiliated Employer’s intent to disclose the reason for termination to an inquirer for a bona fide business reference.
  1. Eligibility for re-hire and future reference information is determined by this reason for termination code.
  1. The codes for eligibility for rehire are listed in a chart on Atlas:
Eligibility for Re-Hire Determined by Lawson System chart.
  1. Affiliated Employers must assignreason for termination codesbased upon a complete understanding of the facts available. Reason for termination codes must not be negotiated to permit an employee to avoid being declared ineligible for re-hire.
  1. Some terminations coded as not eligible for re-hire require a Human Resources Department consultation with the Corporate Employment Law Department (615-344-1891) prior to system entry and must be approved by the Affiliated Employer CEO or Corporate Department Head.
  1. If an employee’s reason for termination is coded as not eligible for re-hire, appropriate disclosures must be made to the relevant licensing board(s).
  1. Providing Former Employee Reference Information
  1. Affiliated Employers may refer a business reference inquirer to TNT Reference Check at (866) 722-5888.
  1. TNT Reference Check will respond to a bona fide business reference inquirer as follows:
If a former employee’s reason for termination is mapped to eligible for re-hire, the inquirer will have access to that information and the process ends.
If a former employee’s reason for termination is mapped to not eligible for re-hire, the inquirer will have access to that information and may end the process or request further information.
If inquirer requests further information, TNT Reference Check will notify the Affiliated Employer via email with a letter attached to print and send to the inquirer on the Affiliated Employer’s letterhead disclosing the former employee’s reason for termination.
The Affiliated Employer may elaborate only for the reasons indicatedafter consulting with the Corporate Employment Law Department.

10/2013