A UK Charity Maintaining an Open Standard
Tamper-proof. Portable. DNS-anchored.
The Work References Foundation maintains a free, open standard that lets any organisation issue cryptographically signed employment references, verifiable by anyone, instantly.
This is a real reference for James Holloway, issued by workreferences.org. Click the button to verify it instantly.
James was a reliable and hardworking member of our airside baggage team for over three years. He consistently met tight turnaround targets, handled fragile and oversized items with care, and maintained an excellent attendance record throughout his time with us. He completed his airside safety and security clearance renewals on time every year and was trusted to train new starters during peak season. His supervisors regularly praised his calm under pressure and willingness to cover extra shifts at short notice. I would happily rehire James and recommend him for any ground handling or airside operations role.
Three cryptographic primitives. No middleman. No vendor lock-in.
Each reference is digitally signed by the issuing organisation. Any modification breaks the signature instantly.
Public keys are published as DNS TXT records. Verification is tied to the organisation’s domain — no central authority required.
References travel with the candidate as a PDF, link, or QR code. Use them from job to job, forever.
No vendor lock-in. Any organisation can implement the standard. Any system can verify references independently.
A letterhead, a PDF, and a fake phone number. That’s all it takes to fabricate a reference. Up to 30% of applicants embellish or invent theirs entirely.
Every new employer calls the old employer, waits days, and gets a guarded two-sentence confirmation. It doesn’t scale and it doesn’t work.
The Work References Standard solves both. Issue once, verify anywhere, forever.
The standard is designed to be adopted by any organisation or software system.
Issue signed references when employees leave. Stop fielding verification calls.
Integrate reference issuance into your existing workflows using the open standard.
Add one-click reference verification to your hiring pipeline.
Verify candidate references instantly. No accounts, no phone calls.
Add cryptographic reference verification alongside existing checks.
Carry verified references from job to job. Share a link and they verify instantly.
Read the specification, try the demo, or sign a reference today.