Available for the following plans: Plus, Unlimited HR, Engage, Elite, Unlimited HR+Payroll,
Available for the following HR plans: Premium, Platinum
Available for the following User Access levels: Manager, Admin
The Cancel Reference Requests feature gives recruiters the ability to stop outstanding reference checks in a single action. This tool helps clean up your recruitment workflow when a candidate withdraws from a role, a hiring decision is made early, or contact details provided were incorrect. By using this feature, you ensure that referees who have not yet responded are automatically notified that their feedback is no longer required, while any feedback already submitted remains safely preserved.
This article will show you how to perform the following:
- Cancel all outstanding referee requests
- Identify cancelled status in your referee table
- Understand the referee experience after cancellation
- Review important cancellation rules
Cancel outstanding referee requests
You can cancel requests for any referee who has been contacted but has not yet submitted their feedback.
- Log in to Employment Hero.
- Navigate to the candidate profile and locate the Contact Referees section.
- Click the Cancel Referee Requests button.
Helpful Hint
The Cancel Referee Requests button only appears when the recruitment stage is set to contact referees and at least one referee has the Reference Requested status. If no emails have been sent yet, or if all referees have already responded, this button will not be visible.
- Review the confirmation modal that appears to understand the permanent nature of the action.
- Click Confirm to proceed.
Success Message
Once confirmed, the system will display a message stating: Referee requests cancelled successfully.
Identify cancelled status in your referee table
After you trigger a cancellation, the referee table updates to reflect the new state of the process.
- Status Badge: Referees who were in the Reference Requested stage will now show a Cancelled status badge.
- Feedback Preservation: Referees who already submitted their feedback remain unchanged, allowing you to still view their details and read their submitted feedback.
- Disabled Actions: For any referee with a Cancelled status, the actions menu will hide the Edit and Resend email options to prevent accidental communication.
Understand the referee experience after cancellation
The platform manages communication with the referees automatically so you do not have to contact them individually.
- Email Notification: Only referees who have not yet responded will receive an automated email informing them the request is no longer needed.
- Email Content: The message includes the candidate name and specifies that no further action or feedback is required from the referee.
- Link Expiry: If a referee attempts to click their original questionnaire link after the cancellation, they will see a professional message stating the request has been cancelled. They will be unable to view or submit the form.
Review important cancellation rules
Important
Cancellation is a permanent action for the current process. Once you cancel a request, it cannot be undone or resent to the same email address for that candidate.
Please note the following limitations:
- Restarting Checks: You cannot restart a reference check once it has been cancelled for a candidate.
- Manual Action: If a candidate is rejected in the system, any active reference requests must be cancelled manually; they do not auto-cancel.
- Candidate Notification: Only referees receive a notification when you cancel the requests; candidates are not automatically notified.
Explore related content
- Manage reference checks: Learn how to initiate and track the progress of your candidate reference checks through the recruitment module.