Help! I think my job offer is about to fall through…

OP - you’re getting a lot of misleading information on this thread that may sound worrying, but not all of it is true.

I suggest you ask MNHQ to move your thread to the employment section in the hope that you will get some accurate advice from HR/ employment professionals, instead of people presenting their employer’s policies and their own personal decision making process as if it is official ACAS guidance or a legal requirement for all employers.

Agree 100%.

I’d want to know how the OP was going to handle stress in the new role if they’d had months’ worth of absence. It may be that leaving is the solution, but I would probably want a chat about it.

That would raise so many red flags for me that I wouldn't bother asking for the reference - I would withdraw the offer.

FWIIW, many employers do not withdraw an offer on the basis of sickness if it is reaosnably explained and we can satisfy ourselves that the circumstances are such that it is unlikley to present a risk to us. If there are any concerns about that we (can't speak for every employer though) would get an OH report to satisfy ourselves. In the end, if we employ someone who takes the piss with sick leave then we have a long period of time when we can dismiss them - frustrating but it isn't a disaster. What we will never employ is someone who lies, omits or beats about the bush. They cannot be trusted. That is the most fundamental requirement for new hires - we have to trust them. So far the OP has not said anything untrue, they haven't omitted to give information they are asked for, so why would it be sensible to start trying a coverup now?

OP - you have two choices. Give consent or don't. You can then decide whether to head any mention of sick leave off at the past and tell them now - or you can wait and see whether they find out and discuss it with them then. But if you don't give consent you aren't getting the job offer confirmed anyway.

…but you have been off sick, it would be factual for them to say that. I doubt your new employer would withdraw a job offer for that, but they may well withdraw an offer if they don’t get any reference back at all

Depending on the policy of the new employer and any recruitment requirements for the industry, the job may be withdrawn if sufficient information is not provided.

Re-read the post. It would be unwise to share specific last but they could go further than the aggregated data.

Well, then it may be best to say that. Because you suggested it applied to all.

I thought they can give basic factual information eg X has worked for this company for 3 years, 4 months and 11 days. In the last 365 days X has has 69 days sickness absence. Iyswim they can't say X has been off dock with ABC illness for 35 days, then DEF illness for 11 days followed by GHI for 9 days.

I have one past employer who requires my consent - directly from me - to give references. Just dates and leaving date, but I have to contact them personally each time to give this consent (due to contracting I’ve moved a few times in last few years). So it’s not unheard of and they may just have changed their rules since your colleagues left.

Could you reply to the former employer’s request for consent with something like “I give my consent for a factual reference confirming my job title and dates of employment to be provided”. Then you have not actually consented to them providing any other information and they may well ask for further consent if that is what they are intending but they may well just provide the factual reference.

My employer’s guidance is to omit all sickness from references (very large nhs hospital trust). I can only speak from my own experience.

It isn’t. There really isn’t much to omit. Only that related to a disability or parental leave. Neither of which appear to apply to the OP.

What guidance? (Have just run this past our employment lawyer who has no clue what you’re referring to.)

It’s a minefield with the discrimination law. So, yes you can say but there’s a lot you have to omit.

Not according to ACAS - https://www.acas.org.uk/providing-a-job-reference/what-employers-can-say-in-a-reference

If you leave our company and we are asked for a reference we have to ask you to consent to us giving you a reference. Ours is a basic yes they were employed from this date to that date.

Guidance that used to say you had to give sickness records/details. You are now not supposed to give that. (As a manager and recruiter it really concerns me but to do with equality.)

I think the new job should have made it clear if they wanted information regarding my sickness absence - on the form it just said that they would ask for dates and reason for leaving but the fact my former employer has asked for my consent has made me nervous!

But there's no actual implication that the new job does want info on your sickness absence is there? Or have I missed something?

No you don’t. References are excluded from SARs.

And sharing that the OP has been off sick is not untrue.

What’s recently changed?

Once an offer is made the prospective emploter can ask about sickness absence.

There aren't many employers who would accept any general reference submitted by the candidate - the pooint of asking the former employer directly is a form of verification. To be honest, if I got a reference like you are suggesting I'd be wondering what the hell they are hiding and be giving serious consideration to withdrawing the offer.

One thing that I am wondering... what are the terms of your redundancy? Because it is very common that redundancy payment is not due if you hold an offer of employment before your date of redundancy? They may be querying when you were made an offer of a job...

It is good practice to get written consent from the candidate. It's not good practice to be contacting an ex employer without permission. Some companies refuse to provide a reference without it.

I would often get reference requests and they would come with a letter of consent from the candidate.

Is it a big employer? I know of a few large employers locally that ask for written consent even when there's nothing of note to share