Employee Reference Letter Template

Facts to gather before writing

Employee full name— as it appears in HR records

Job title(s) held and dates in each role— list promotions separately

Employment start and end dates

Reason for leaving— only include if the employee has agreed and it is neutral, e.g. relocation

Choose the right letter

The three samples below cover most requests. Use the strong recommendation only when a manager with first-hand knowledge is writing and your policy allows it. Use the neutral version when policy limits references to dates and title, or when performance was mixed. Use the early-career version for interns, apprentices, and graduates with a short work history.

Sample 1: Strong performer (manager recommendation)

[Company letterhead] [Date] [Recipient name] [Recipient title, Organization] [Address] Re: Reference for [Employee full name] Dear [Recipient name], I am writing at [Employee first name]'s request to recommend them for the [Role applied for] position at [Organization]. I managed [Employee first name] directly from [Month, Year] to [Month, Year], during which they worked as a [Job title] on our [Team or department] team. [Employee first name] owned [specific responsibility, e.g. the vendor onboarding process for 40+ suppliers]. In [Year], they [specific achievement with a number, e.g. cut the average onboarding time from 21 days to 9 by rebuilding the intake form and approval routing]. They also [second concrete contribution, e.g. trained four new coordinators and wrote the process guide the team still uses]. What stood out day to day was [observable trait with an example, e.g. how they handled escalations: when a supplier dispute threatened a product launch, they set up a daily call, kept both sides informed in writing, and closed it within a week]. [Employee first name] left us to [neutral reason, e.g. relocate to Denver]. I would hire them again without hesitation and am happy to answer questions by phone at [Phone] or by email at [Email]. Sincerely, [Writer name] [Writer title] [Company name]

Sample 2: Neutral reference (dates-and-title policy)

[Company letterhead] [Date] [Recipient name or "To Whom It May Concern"] [Organization] Re: Employment confirmation for [Employee full name] This letter confirms that [Employee full name] was employed by [Company legal name] from [Start date] to [End date]. Their most recent job title was [Job title] in the [Department] department. [Optional, only with written consent: Their final base salary was [Amount] per [year/hour].] In line with company policy, we confirm dates of employment and job title only and do not provide further comment on performance or conduct. This policy applies to all former employees and should not be read as a positive or negative statement about [Employee first name]. For verification, please contact [HR contact name] at [Email] or [Phone]. Sincerely, [HR representative name] [Title] [Company name]

Sample 3: Former intern or early-career employee

[Company letterhead] [Date] Dear [Recipient name], I am pleased to provide a reference for [Employee full name], who completed a [length, e.g. 12-week] [internship / apprenticeship / graduate placement] with our [Team] team from [Start date] to [End date]. I was their supervisor for the full placement. [Employee first name] was assigned to [project, e.g. cleaning and analyzing three years of customer support data]. They [specific result, e.g. built a dashboard that showed 30% of tickets came from one billing issue, which led to a product fix in the next release]. They also [second example, e.g. presented their findings to our leadership team, which is unusual for an intern]. For someone early in their career, [Employee first name] [observable strength, e.g. asked good questions early, took feedback on their first draft and applied it without being reminded, and met every deadline we set]. [Optional honest development area framed neutrally, e.g. They are still building experience with larger stakeholder groups, which is normal at this stage.] I recommend [Employee first name] for [Role or program]. Please contact me at [Email] or [Phone] if I can help further. Kind regards, [Supervisor name] [Title] [Company name]