Would HR not know if someone were ineligible for rehire?

[Marshall1]

A former coworker has reapplied for a position at the company I work for. HR is computerized at this company - from applying to reference checks to everything else.

When the former coworker left he was absolutely not eligible for rehire to the specific area of the company he worked for (he gave 2 wks notice vs 4 and the director at the time had a complete melt down over this - it was a huge deal that ended up involving the CNO when he found out they had made him ineligible. Policy was not specific for length of resignation and because of this situation was changed/clarified).

Anyway..he has contacted me asking for a reference. I questioned him about not being eligible and he said he had applied for another position, in a different area and he too thought he could not come back at all but had gone through 2 interviews and now they are checking background, references etc. He did express he is concerned HR has "overlooked" something and is nervous they will change their minds. He is a good nurse and everyone I know would definitely like to have him back. I am assuming HR would not have moved forward with sending his application on, 2 interviews and now this if bringing him back on board, in a different are wasn't ok. He asked me not to say anything about his previous employment other than commenting directly on his performance as a nurse which I understand. I am assuming HR would have some sort of notation in the computer if he indeed wasn't ok to rehire. I would think that would be difficult to overlook?

Hope this makes sense..appreciate feedback.

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

If there was not a time period specified at the time of his leaving, it could be they reversed the not eligible for rehire status on that technicality. Another possibility could be that the not eligible for rehire status is removed after a certain amount of time with exceptions for major reasons (drug diversion, patient harm, negligence, etc.). As for the reference, just answer questions honestly.