Isn’t there some way we can provide honest references?

Q. We work in a very small industry, and employees tend to circulate among various employers in our greater metropolitan area. Many of us belong to the same trade and professional organizations and know each other. We would like to be able to provide each other with honest information in response to reference checks about an employee’s work history, but everyone is reluctant to do so because the general opinion seems to be that the safer course of action is to give only names and dates of employment. Can employers provide honest information about the reasons for employment terminations in response to reference requests? ...