This is falsch. No true German would be upset to be asked to pass judgement on someone or complete paperwork.
Germans no doubt have a single compound word for Annoyed-I-Am-Asked-To-Be.
Tja
No.
But at least for work references, we are legally not allowed to say negative things about an employee, which is kind of bonkers.
It just creates a very specific language of what is mentioned and how emphatically things are expressed and how things are formulated.
We wish him all the best in his future endeavors: he sucks
We wish him continued success in his career: he was a good employee.
We all regret his decision to leave and look forward to maybe work with him in the future: he was an outstanding employee.
I'm in the States. My wife was trying to get a new job. Her current job was veeery specific on what they could say. Nothing subjective. Mostly limited to things like attendance and punctuality.
This is because the whole calling and writing to references everytime you look for a new job is not a thing in Germany.
Danish: I can confirm
