Reference question

[changethofnameth]

I’m pulling my hair out thinking of a solution for this and I know you lot will give me some advice. I’ve name changed for this as it could be a bit outing.

I was employed by a company last year, 5 weeks in I found out I was pregnant. The hours were 8:45am to 7pm five days a week and I was struggling massively. My old manager from a previous job said I could return to my previous position with a little pay rise and flexibility whilst pregnant and when I returned from mat leave. But as they were struggling and still hadn’t filled my post I would need to get back in quickly.
I decided to resign from the new job thinking as I was still on probationary I would only have to give a week or so notice. My new manager told me they wanted 8 weeks notice which I thought was a bit steep so I explained my predicament and manager wouldn’t budge. 8 weeks.
I felt backed into a corner as by the end of the 8 weeks I might not have had a job to go back to so I explained to her that it wouldn’t be possible for me to work the full notice. She got very shitty with me, I left after the work day was done. This wasn’t a decision I took lightly and it’s not something I would normally even consider.

My issue is I need to include this on my references as due to security reasons I need to account for absence gaps etc. Should I include a letter with my references form explaining the situation or just hope for the best? WWYD??

As far as I know ...........
Unless stated otherwise in your contract (most do have something in the contract) you are only obliged to give one weeks notice.
Most employers will go for either one weeks notice or four weeks notice depending on the particular job but again this should be clear in your contract. If they haven't specified then I don't think you need to give anything more than one week.
I have never known anyone to be asked for 8 weeks, four is the norm in my line of work, but I have heard of occasions where 12 weeks is asked for - but in my experience these are usually in high management positions.

See what's in your contract and if your employer was asking for more than stated and then you are asked to explain any "lapse in service" gaps to your future employer then I would just be honest and say that your employer was asking you to fulfil more than your contractual obligation and was unwilling to reason with you to find a suitable mutual outcome.

From how I read this you are going back to a previous employer anyway? So clearly they know you and would like you back so I can't imagine they will have any problems with this.

Thank you for the response it’s very helpful. It’s not a previous employer, I’ve been offered a new job whilst on mat leave. I will have a look at my contracts (if I can dig them out!) and double check. I know my reference from my long term employer is going to be brilliant so I hope this countenances the crabby one I will probs get from the second one!

I don't think you have to put the current job on your CV if it was a really short period.