You could decline or just give bare bones facts and confirm that she worked for you and the dates.

Decline.  By doing that, you`ve more or less said it all without going into detail Moomin.

Decline if you can Moomin.  If you say anything negative about her, believe it or not she has the right to read that reference and could take action against you!


Alternatively you could just say as Croc said, that you knew her in the capacity of *insert job title* from such a date to such a date but as you weren't her immediate manager you feel unqualified to give a reference.  You could also state that as you don't know her on a personal level you are unable to supply a character reference.

all of the above would be the truth and from that they would be able to tell that she's an unsuitable candidate for whatever job she's applied for 

How to say what you want to, without upsetting the former employee -

Job References

the problem
Having to write letters of recommendation for people with very dubious qualifications can cause serious legal troubles in a time when laws have eroded the confidentiality of business letters. In most states, job applicants have the right to read the letters of recommendations and can even file suit against the writer if the contents are negative.

the solution
Here is an arsenal of statements that can be read two ways: You are able to state a negative opinion of the ex-employees poor work habits, while allowing the ex-employee to believe that it is high praise. When the writer uses these, whether perceived correctly or not by the ex-employee, the phrases are virtually litigation-proof.

To describe a person who is extremely lazy:
'In my opinion,' you say as sincerely as you can manage, 'you will be very fortunate to get this person to work for you.'

To describe a person who is totally inept:
'I most enthusiastically recommend this candidate with no qualifications whatsoever.'

To describe an ex-employee who had problems getting along with fellow workers:
'I am pleased to say that this candidate is a former colleague of mine.'

To describe a candidate who is so unproductive that the job would be better left unfilled:
'I can assure you that no person would be better for the job.'

To describe a job applicant who is not worth further consideration:
'I would urge you to waste no time in making this candidate an offer of employment.'

To describe a person with lackluster credentials:
'All in all, I cannot say enough good things about this candidate or recommend him too highly.'

Where in doubt, ask an employment law specialist either with your firm of solicitors or your trade association/federation.

Just decline.

They may have changed and in all honesty that seems the most appropriate course of action.

I would decline or refer it to your HR department if you have one,

Thanks for the help, people.
I have just given the dates of employment and declined to add anything else.

I think it's cheeky for the person to just assume you will give a reference without asking first, especially if she hadn't got on well there. Saying that though, it's possible she has explained the situation at interview (not everyone gets along in every role - it might not have been right for her at the time) but has had to still give a point of reference as that's the requirement in most roles these days.

By law you are not allowed to give a bad reference, but what has been suggested ^^^ sounds the right thing to do, that's what I'd do if it were me.

Love Blizzie's post

agrees

What Pengy said...  OR as some people have said here, just decline and if they say why, you COULD give them the above statement.  Blizzie's post is quite amusing/clever/funny   but seriously, I wouldn't put any of that, because it does actually read as if you are praising her.

I agree, just declining is the easiest course to take.  If you want to include the negative stuff you have to make sure it's pretty water tight rather than hear say gossip, emotive interpretations, proportionate or things that can be described as personality conflicts. 

From a personal point of view, if I was writing a reference of that type, I'd make sure the person it concerned had a copy.

I was under the impression that HR departments mostly deal with this sort of thing as employers don't necessarily trust references by ex-colleagues. 

This article explains a few matters concerning references.

http://www.totaljobs.com/caree...and-legal/references

I would decline and then your ass is covered, what's not said can't be proven 

I've changed me mind.  Write that they're utterly crap and you wouldn't re-employ them if they were the last person alive (other than your good self) and the apocalypse could only be averted by your hiring them again.

Report back please.  Ta