No, you are not required to do this, but it can definitely be helpful.
Not all terminations are a result of bad blood, and there are many instances where an employee may be a great worker but you could simply not keep them on for one reason or another. While employers should generally consider writing at least some form of reference letter upon termination, for a great employee you may be willing to go the extra mile and connect them with other contacts in your industry who may be hiring.
This is helpful, but also not entirely selfless. If you are able to help an employee secure new work quickly, it can lessen the amount of time that they are out of work in which you would owe severance pay. If however the employee was less than ideal, still keep an eye on those industry job postings – it can help prove your case later that there was plenty of other work available. We also recommend keeping your own log if you see postings from within the industry, and periodically sending it our way. We can forward that log onto the employee’s lawyer to help boost their job search, or can later use that against the employee if they have not made reasonable efforts to apply for available positions.
