Job offer withdrawn due to unsatisfactory references.

[TheLightSideOfTheMoon]

Pretty gutted.

Was a hard worker. Fell out with my boss over her withholding holiday pay and numerous cock-ups with my pay. Was also having issues with training taking place before and after night shifts, effectively giving staff 18 -20 hour shifts.

I got signed off and found a less stressful job.

However, after weeks of waiting for DBS Checks snd such I've been informed that the references from my current job aren't satisfactory and they aren't proceedingcwith my employment.

Not sure what I can do.

Already left my job. Didn't occur to me I'd get a poor reference, I was a good worker.

Now I have nothing. Have a mortgage to pay and a child to feed.

Am applying for other jobs now but am feeling pretty shite and worthless.

My mates say it's not meant to be, they're probably right but it still sucks.

Any advice.

You have no right to see your reference from a previous employer, there's a link to the Government page about it above.

It's not helpful to the OP at all to suggest stuff she clearly can't do!

The citizen's advice bureau explains what you can do.

www.citizensadvice.org.uk/work/leaving-a-job/getting-a-job-reference/getting-a-job-reference/ Look at the part down the page If you think you've had a bad reference

It might be better to find out what's happened to stop the same thing happening again.

Sorry to hear this OP. Did they tell you what they thought the problem was?

There would be no point in asking the previous employer to show the reference, because the previous employer could just send a different (less damaging) reference. You'd need to see the actual reference that was sent to the prospective employer, which is what the government site and the citizen's advice site both say.

Acas offers free advice and guidance on rights at work and employment law. Monday-Friday, 8am-8pm and Saturday, 9am-1pm. Helpline number 0300 123 1100

I think you need to chalk this one up to experience and for your next interview, don't give them as a referee.

As an employer, it's really difficult when someone has left "under a cloud" when they ask for a reference. We've gone down the road of literally just confirming the dates they've worked for us..... so it may not necessarily be that they've given you a "bad" reference as such. To be honest, we find these days that employers tend to phone and ask for a reference "off the record" as opposed to wanting a written one and if that's what happened here, you won't get anywhere. Getting signed off isn't the best way of dealing with work related issues and would be a red flag to most employers.

I hope your next interview goes well.

Have you already put your old employer forward as a reference for Tuesday, OP? How long were you signed off sick for, because it may simply be the sick leave if it was for a long period.

You can't ask your old employer for a copy of the reference. Because you are not employed by the new company, I don't think they have to share it with you either, sorry to say (which is a strange bit of the legislation IMO!).

Citizens Advice would be a good place to start, but I doubt you'll get to see them before your next interview unfortunately. I'd put forward more than one referee but companies are always going to be most interested in the previous employer - can you temp for a bit with an agency to build up a different role in the meantime?

Getting signed off isn't the best way of dealing with work related issues and would be a red flag to most employers.
I agree. I've seen more than one post on MN where the advice given to a poster unhappy in her job is "get signed off with stress and look for a new job" and I always think WTF? Who would want to employ someone who deals with work problems in that manner?

were you upfront with them about having been signed off in the previous job?

that's the kind of thing I'd say at interview because I wouldn't want them checking a reference and only hearing it from there. They get that fact in isolation without you being able to explain.

to be clear, it's not something I've done. But I have left two jobs after very short periods. When I went to interviews, I explained that I had left on good terms but said something like "the culture wasn't for me". (what I meant was, they were batshit and I feel sorry for anyone still there). I also said "I left it off my CV so I could explain it to you - you are welcome to contact them for references in addition to the others".

I did leave on good terms though. I think both employers appreciated the honesty and I was hired by both of them.

Yes, I was honest.

I actually told them during the induction about it all and they seemed fine with it as long as they knew in advance.

I've been applying for other jobs and have two interviews lined up. Obviously I'll give different references this time.

Something never felt 'right' about this job, anyway. But I'm pissed off that I've wasted time waiting for them when I could've been job hunting.

But I do feel that it wasn't to be.

OP, given that update, you definitely need to do the data subject access request thingy (technical term there).

The Ask a Manager blog (which is great) often recommends getting a professional-sounding friend to call a reference you're not sure about pretending to be a potential employer. She's in the US so it's a different work culture in some ways, but if your friend claimed to be a very small business they might not expect an emailed request. If they lie about you, you can then consider getting a solicitor to send a letter telling them to knock it off.

Re sickness, DH had this once where a previous employer put in a reference that he had a terrible sickness record. To be fair he did, but the new employer had the sense to phone him and ask about it, which gave him the opportunity to explain that it was for an issue that had since been resolved with surgery. I've personally just had a past employer deny all knowledge of me ever working there! To be fair it was a short term contract a year ago but that could have caused me huge problems if my new employer hadn't given me the opportunity to submit a different reference. I think an employer who doesn't do this is going to turn out unreasonable about other things too so you might have had a lucky escape.

A decade ago not a year ago!

I second calling ACAS they are very good. Someone successfully sued a company for a bad reference (which is why most companies nowadays will only provide tombstone references.)

I would pursue, but I also wonder if they are being so vague if something else is going on in company and they are using the reference as an excuse