Offered a new job, references..

[Iwantitalll]

I’ve been offered a new job and waiting on references. 18 months ago I had 4 weeks off work, due to a blood clot, caused by covid. Now I’m worried in case they ask about days off sick and it looks really bad because new employer won’t know the reason just the number of days. Do they ask how many days off sick?

Some do, some don't, some ask for any sickness in the last 12 months.

Not everywhere is the same, but most will just ask for the previous 12 months.

I imagine they won't be as strict due to Covid. A lot of people who would usually have an excellent attendance record will have had a lot of time off during 2020-2021.

Thank you. This was over 18 months ago. I suppose I could explain why I was off for so long, just don’t want anything to jeopardise this new offer

In my experience they ask for absences to calculate your Bradford Score which focuses more on highlighting concern around multiple instances of absence (whether short or long) rather than single, longer stretches. You can find calculators for the score online, but I think they do only say to put in absences for the last 12 months. I wouldn't be concerned about one 4 week stretch as a hiring manager

I've never seen anyone ask. All the companies I've worked at have always only given"factual" references, basically job title, start date, end date. So I think it's unlikely the new employer will find out about the sick leave and if they do a blood clot 18 months ago shouldn't trigger alarms.

Congratulations on the job offer!

Thanks @CheshireSplat
that has made me feel better 😊

How is it going/did it go @Iwantitalll ?