References concern

[king98]

Hi,

Recently got a job as a conductor, I have a concern regarding my references as I did have some sickness in my old job that relates to multiple cases of bereavement that I feel may go against me, as I’ve just even it says they can withdraw the job offer if they get unsatisfactory references, thee sickness periods were all due to life circumstances and have since been resolved, I have had 4 episodes in the last 12 months and 2 of them were for things outside of my control, if the references do come back unsatisfactory what would happen? Wouod they give me a chance to explain or just be done with me, really stressing about this as it’s my dream job and I’m worrying it could be taken away potentially.

 

[Islineclear3_1]

These days, you can't really give a bad reference. Usually, it's either refusing to give a reference or it's just a bog-standard form asking for work dates (i.e. start/end date), whether or not performance was satisfactory and probably; how many days sick an employee had over the past 12 months.

 

[Tazi Hupefi]

I'm guessing you haven't had your medical yet. That would be the opportunity to explain all of this along with any other medical history. You'd likely have to tell them about that yourself even without it being mentioned in references.

Occupational health may want to contact your GP to check it out, from a helpful perspective, rather than to try and catch you out. Depends if it was many years ago or in more recent times.

If HR gets your references before that, they'll likely ask you to explain the situation and then ask occupational health to investigate whether everything is ok now.

I wouldn't worry too much - if it was genuine and you recovered well, it will just be, at worst, some additional checks with your welfare in mind.

It would only be a problem if you've been asked about sickness, absences etc previously and you've lied.

 

[saismee]

A reference cannot be misleading, so the previous employer can't say that you took time off without specifying that the reason was valid. You are entitled to sick days and they can't punish you for taking leave for something out of your control. Realistically, I think if you've made it this far then they'd rather give you the benefit of the doubt/opportunity to explain any concerns they have rather than drop you and restart the process with another candidate.

 

[king98]

Thank you everyone, just worrying that’s all, I’d hope they’d give me benefit of the doubt as 2/3 of the regional managers in the interview both said they liked me and I got given the job on the spot after my interview, I also didn’t receive the correct support from my manager at the time of them absences which resulted in some of them occurring, my sickness has improved though and I am back at a sense of normality now, like I say it was just a pretty rough patch in my life and it’s since been resolved, I hope that worst case they give me chance to explain if it is an issue as they were very impressed with me at the interview

 

[Islineclear3_1]

If you do get asked; never say anything negative about a previous manager no matter what you may have thought of them

 

[king98]

If you do get asked; never say anything negative about a previous manager no matter what you may have thought of them

I will make sure I don’t to be honest even if I had an issue with management in my current job I’m still professional at the end of the day and conduct myself in a

 

[Roger1973]

Subject to the disclaimer that I'm not a lawyer, but it's a bit of an urban myth that 'you can't give a bad reference'.

An employment reference must be true and objective, and it is possible to claim damages if a reference is false / misleading. Stating how many days / periods of sick leave someone has had is an objective fact that can be proved.

Have you had any sort of medical / medical questionnaire yet? They are likely to ask you about past health / sick leave in any case.

 

[king98]

Subject to the disclaimer that I'm not a lawyer, but it's a bit of an urban myth that 'you can't give a bad reference'.

An employment reference must be true and objective, and it is possible to claim damages if a reference is false / misleading. Stating how many days / periods of sick leave someone has had is an objective fact that can be proved.

Have you had any sort of medical / medical questionnaire yet? They are likely to ask you about past health / sick leave in any case.

No it’s in the next couple of days, I’m going to be transparent as everyone has rough patches at the end of the day