Question about references

[Beansandtoast12]

If you are off with stress would your employer write this on a reference for a new job?
Thanks

Not necessarily, unless asked specifically.
A potential employer may ask how many sick days you have had in the last twelve months although.

No, or at least they should not disclose confidential information in a reference.
They may include information on number of episodes of sickness absence and total days absence in a given period but should not include details of reasons for absence. Some HR departments would even advise against the above being included and would only provide confirmation of job title, outline of main responsibilities and period of employment.
However, if you do have a significant sickness absence history you should be prepared for your potential new employer to ask about it and in my experience it helps to be open and honest about such matters in order to receive the best support in your new role.

Hi, over the last few years previous employers have stated to me that they only confirm the dates you worked there and that's it, I think the days of saying they were hard working or lazy etc appear to be over, I guess nobody wants any repercussions maybe ?

Can they ask about abscence?
Thanks

are you currently off sick for stress and applying for new roles that will seek references from your employer?

Whether or not sick days are included (and reasons for this, if they are included, usually don't make it past HR) you are most likely just going to be referred to occupational health to assess your suitability for the role.

Sorry if this is a silly question- do you mean referred to Occ Health because I was off with stress or would that referral happen anyway?
Thanks

As long as a reference is factual, anything can be written. (it's a commonly said fallacy on here that a reference has to be positive - it doesn't)
So, the referee could say "X worked for us for 2 years, of which 6 weeks were taken as sick leave".
Highly doubtful they would ever say with what illness and that couldn't, factually be proven absolutely by the person writing the reference.

Some employers' questions to the referee do ask how many days sick leave etc.

Usually, a reference would contain start date, end date, job title, and reason for leaving.

Re the above post, I seem to remember that references ask lots of questions, thanks

NHS reference questionnaires ask the number of days and over how many episodes a person has been sick. The employer should not disclose your medical info to anyone. If the new company wanted to dig deeper they would get their occupational health or hr colleagues to contact you and ask for more info, which you're also not obliged to give them but it may be in your favour to do so.

That heavily depends on the sector.
My job comes with a standard pre-helth check and if you answer yes to any of the (very general) questions, such as "Have you ever had a mental illness which caused you to take time off work" then you'd get a call from OH, who are basically establishing whether you are fit to work in the role and whether your new employer needs to make any adjustments to reduce the risk of you taking time off for the same thing.

The reference request could ask them to confirm numbers of sick days taken while in employment wit them but they are not allowed to pass on the reason for the absence as this is confidential medical info.

I used to work in HR and the majority of employers would respond with "Jane Doe worked for us from xx to xx as a (job title).

As a further note (and this is going back a good 15 years) our standard reference request removed the questions about periods of sickness as it could be seen as potentially discriminatory (for example if someone has a long term health issue requiring frequent medical appointments, that can't be used as a knockout factor when selecting who goes through to being hired the same way as not selecting a female because of having or possibly having children etc is potentially discriminatory)

My experience is private sector, and having requested and provided many official references, it is very unusual to get anything other than the details in my previous post no matter what is asked.

It is a different kettle of fish if an individual is contacted for a personal reference though.