Job offer withdrawn due to sicknesd

[April84]

Hi all, I'm after a little bit of advice please.

I was offered a new job back in May this year and I've just had that offer withdrawn, but they won't say why, although I think it's possibly due to my sickness record in my current job. I'm gutted.

I have quite a bad sickness record due to chronic migraines. My sickness from this had improved greatly, then unfortunately I was off again for a separate reason (I suffered an injury) and off again a while later for another separate reason. So all in all my record was pretty awful. In fact, just a few weeks ago I had to have a meeting with the board about my sickness, and I'm sure they would have sacked me until I told them I was leaving anyway and they said that that has changed their course of action as I was leaving.

I was offered the new job in May and following this I needed to get through their pre-employment checks. My CRB was absolutely fine - I got the copy of that so I know it was ok. Then Occupational Health sent me a health questionnaire asking about any diseases and immunisations etc - but there was nowhere on it where it asked me about my sickness record. I had an appointment with them to talk about the form, and again, I wasn't asked about previous sickness. So I presume that was all ok. Then of course they needed references. I submitted two - my past employer and my current employer.

I know the one from my past employer was ok and I could only assume that the one from my current employer had been ok. But... Given that all of my other pre-employment checks were ok, I'm wondering if my current employer has given me a bad reference because of my sickness (there would be no other reason, than for sickness, as my appraisals are always good).

Can my current employer legally tell a prospective employer about my sickness? And if this is the case, how am I ever supposed to get a new job?

I am in the process of requesting the documents from them, as in their withdrawal letter they say they can't tell me the reason it was withdrawn, but I can request to see the pre-employment check documents which may 'provide me with an insight as to their decision'.

Has anyone else ever had this happen to them? If my current employer has given me a bad references based on sickness is there anything I can do?

Thanks everyone.

Your old employer will most likely be asked about your sickness record and would have to provide a true picture. Presumably your offer was conditional upon references / checks so I'm afraid they are within their rights to withdraw the offer.

It may be worth your while to contact them and ask to discuss things. Be honest and explain your sickness record and perhaps try to negotiate something around sickness during your first year being under a certain level or you are given notice.

Ultimately however, they don't have to engage with you. In their shoes I would consider it, however, because you were obviously the right candidate at the time.

It is very unlikely that your current employer has given you a 'bad' reference, as they can get in a whole heap of trouble if they moan and gripe about you in a reference.

However, it is quite normal for the prospective employer to ask how many days sickness, how many instances of sickness, and whether the employee is under any disciplinary proceedings. And your current employer can answer (an should answer!) honestly and factually. Unfortunately, they are likely to have said 'x days over y instances during the last 12 months' rather than give the detail of reasons and whether there has been improvements.

The system is fair, but it does suck that moving jobs is harder if there are problems in your current job. It also means that your current company knows you're thinking of leaving, which might further sour relations. Though it sounds like you've told them you're leaving already in this case.

Good luck finding something to move to.

Pre-employment reference checks often ask for sickness absence records, and legitimately so. Did you not mention your migraines on the occupational health check? if there was no place in the questionnaire to mention it you really should have put it in a covering letter. Failing to mention it at all and leaving them to find it out from your employer makes it look like you were hoping to keep it quiet and hope they never found out. Even if it wasn't going to be a big deal this makes it look like you don't have quite the right attitude to openness and honesty.