Employment Service Letter Rules in Delaware

An employer who operates a health care facility and/or child care facility, or provides health, nutritional or personal care in such a facility, may not hire any person seeking employment without obtaining one or more service letters regarding that person, provided such person has been previously employed. The service letters obtained must include a service letter from the person's current or most recent previous employer. In addition, if a person seeking employment was employed in a health care facility and/or child care facility within the past five years, the employer must also obtain a service letter from such employers. If the person seeking employment has not been previously employed, or was self-employed, then the employer must require the person to provide letters of reference from two adults who are familiar with the person, but who are not relatives of the person.

The required service letter must be a form provided by the Department of Labor. The form must be signed by the current or previous employer and must contain information about the type of work performed by the employee; the duration of the employment; the nature of the employee's separation from employment; and any reasonably substantiated incidents involving violence, threat of violence, abuse or neglect by the person seeking employment toward any other person, including any disciplinary action taken as a result of such conduct .

Any employer who is required to obtain a service letter for the purpose stated above must obtain a statement, signed by the person seeking employment wherein the person authorizes a full release for the employer to obtain any and all information pertaining to the facts of his/her current or previous employment.

An employer who receives written request for a service letter from any other employer for the purpose stated above must provide that service letter within 10 business days from the date the request is received. Any employer who fails or refuses to provide such service letter, or who fails to make a full and complete disclosure of information, as required, will be subject to a civil penalty of not less than $1,000 nor more than $5,000 for such violation.