To wonder if an employer can give a bad reference based on this?

[PontinsBeach]

Employee was warned about failing probation, but given 3 weeks to turn it around. Emoloye managed to and recieved good feeback, but then a day before the deadline where company were going to decide whether to keep them or not, employee resigned.

Employee has used the job as a reference in a new application, she knows they will only be asked basic questions about the dates they were there and reason for leaving. Can the employer say anything other than ‘resigned’?

You don't have any reason to give bad reference?
What for? The resignation while in probation?

I’d be very surprised if the employer reference offered more than the blandest description of worked here between date x and date y

They can, yes. As long as they can factually back it up they can say what they like (but probably won’t bother). It’s a myth that they can’t give bad references.

Are you the employee?

You're correct it's a myth, however many employers now err on the side of caution by only confirming dates and job title(s).

Probably not in this case
"Wasn't doing well, turned it around, resigned while in probation" is not basis for bad reference which would stand.

But yeah! Lots of people believe no bad reference can be ever given!

I'm guessing yes :)

The thing is, employee stated in their resignation meeting that they were resigning as they didn’t feel secure just waiting for the deadline to see if they were being kept or not (though they did have good feedback and probably would’ve been kept). So the employee resigned due to being told they were failing probation. So technically they resigned, but could the company be spiteful and say “failed probation”?

Surely it works both ways? They are entitled to leave.

Why provide this employer as a reference in the first place? 🤷🏻‍♀️

I’m not the employee but am in the same role as the emoloyee. I believe they have been treated unfairly but I’m not senior to them so can’t do anything. I am concerned our manager will be spiteful.

*employee. I can’t type today.

Employee put them down as a reference as it’s relevant and she assumed they will just give a basic reference that she worked there and resigned. She’s now having second thoughts and panicking but too late, she just has to wait.

You cannot possibly know everything that has happened for you to be able to make that judgement? You only know what your colleague told you

I reckon htey could say "resignation subsequent to being informed probation likely to be failed" or something. But I doubt they would. most companies will literally only confirm employment dates.

Basically the employee wasn’t trained at all. The supervisor is incompetent and me and the other employee were both snapped at by her on our first days for asking for help. Employee was left to do a large cash transaction that should be a supervisor job. Supervisor was sat in the back office and she went to ask for help. Supervisor shouted back basic intructions of where to put the cash. I wasn’t there but can believe it due to similar treatment from the supervisor. None of the appropriate paperwork was done and the cash transaction was fucked up by the employee. To cover her arse, supervisor said that employee just took it upon herself to do it and didn’t consult her at all.

This triggered the meeting to state she would fail probation unless a big turn around. Given 3 weeks. Employee worked her arse off, asked for feedback the day before the deadline and was told she was doing well but they refused to say if they were keeping her or not. In a panic, she resigned there and then to pursue other jobs.

Lower employees aren’t trained on the extensive paperwork that is needed for a large cash transaction of that nature, as we don’t do them. When faced with it, she got the supervisor, who refused to help and left her to it. Head office found out about the messed up transaction and did an investigation, where the supervisor covered her arse and said she was never consulted. The supervisor is actually also going through a disciplinary for not training people.

You can't give a bad reference, it's not a myth. My firms people team or whatever wanky name they have now will only stick boxes, employed from x to y etc.

Employee sounds like a waste of space, and employer is well rid.
What the employer can write here, which is factual, is, as others have said:
"X was on probation with the company. The probation was due to finish on [insert date] On [insert date] X was given interim feedback about their performance and officially informed that, at that point, said performance was unsatisfactory. X was given a timeframe within which to make improvements. X asked for feedback on [insert date] and was told [insert what was actually said, as you are not the employee or employer you don't know] At this point they gave notice. They were with the company for [insert number of days]

You can give an appallingly bad reference as long as you have evidence to back it up. A warning during probation that work isn't satisfactory is evidence.

I must admit I am quite invested because I feel this employee has been treated like absolute shit. Blatant lies from the supervisor about not doing an admin checklist, I’ve seen first-hand that she always completed it to a great standard. The company has form for getting rid of people unfairly. A housekeeper (it’s a hotel) was fired for bad English.

They resigned one day before they wouldn't have found out though so that seems a bit of an excuse.

@avocadoandchill.

Why is an valid excuse needed to resign?

Of course they wouldn't tell her before the meeting to tell her!

Anyway they'll probably just say worked here this date to this date. Didn't complete probation. As she didn't she quit.