Refusing to provide references

[nameichange]

Hi, I have name changed for this.
I volunteered in an organisation for 6 months and they have asked me to not come anymore because I didn't notify an absence and I'm not a reliable source of help. My attendance is 75%. Anyway they are saying they can't provide any references in future. I feel quite disappointed, What can I do about this situation?

nothing - they are withing their rights not to provide a reference, I'm sorry. You could ask them for a 'testimonial' ie a written paragraph or two that you take with you to interviews , as a compromise perhaps, if they are feeling kind they may agree to that. (I wouldn't employ someone with 75% attendance unless there was a major health reason for that.)

As above theres nothing you can do at all.
Can you do some type of short course or other voluntary work that you can commit to or get some personal references from people?

I think they are allowed to. Perhaps with a 75% attendance rate they just feel that they wouldn't recommend you. That said, as in a volunteer role I'm surprised it wasn't a case of making agreements of when you were able to help rather than 'attendance rates'. What was the agreement?

If your attendance is as low as 75% then quite frankly they are right to say you are not a reliable source of help. You can’t force them to give you a reference and if they would feel compelled to give a negative one then it might be for the best.

Have you asked if they’d be prepared to literally just confirm dates of the period you were a volunteer if they were asked?

Do you have health problems which are responsible for your low attendance rates?

I would see if they can provide confirmation on letterhead paper that you volunteered with them between x and y, but unfortunately it sounds as though they do not want to act as a reference for you.

Do you have other references?

Thank you for all the replies.
There were no such agreement, and I wasn't aware that absence could terminate my placement. It was never mentioned.
Yes I had personal health related issues but I didn't disclose them at the time.
It feels a bit unfair and I have wasted 6 months for nothing.

There were no such agreement, and I wasn't aware that absence could terminate my placement. It was never mentioned.
You state yourself that your attendance was 75%, that must be based on some sort of shared understanding that you had of when you were supposed to be there?
I think there must have been some plan of when you'd attend, or you'd be wondering where that figure could possibly have come from.
Many employers won't give any reference to anyone (often they will just confirm the dates of the period when the person worked for them), its quite common, so that isn't something you can really challenge.

It was agreed to volunteer certain days every week, but ending date wasn't agreed. They could have given me a warning or just causally mention it after all I'm here to learn.
Volunteering should benefit both parties, I'm left with nothing. Also I was really enjoying the work and they send my termination through an email.

”They could have given me a warning or just causally mention it after all I'm here to learn.”

Did you not realise that only 75% attendance means you are unreliable?

OP I think there's probably bern a few misunderstandings along the line
You seem very reluctant to give information so I won't ask more questions

I would consider writing to them and asking for feedback
Also maybe say you misunderstood things and apologise
Then perhaps you can at least a confirmation of your time there.

*been
*get

Ruddy iPhone!

75% is an appalling attendance.

You need to let this go- if they do give you a reference it won't be a favourable one.

I used to manage volunteers in a previous job. People with attitudes like yours were a nightmare tbh - those who assumed that, because the work was voluntary, they could just turn up as and when they felt like it. Such volunteers were of no use to us at all.

I do agree that volunteering should ideally benefit both parties, but in your case, it doesn't sound like you were really very helpful at all, so I'm not sure why you would expect anything back?

Perhaps you're not aware that most volunteers treat volunteering with a similar degree of commitment as a paid job?

Tricky one but 75% attendance is quite poor. I volunteer for CAB and the service operates using a voluntary workforce. They need committed volunteers, otherwise the service wouldn't run smoothly and clients would be let down. Let it go and try something new which is more manageable time wise?

75% attendance means that over the course of a year you'd be absent for 12 weeks. I couldn't give a good reference on that basis.

OP, you seem a little over-focused on the lack of a reference - were you doing the volunteering with the aim of getting a reference for a job through it?

I see from your later post that the absence may have been down to undisclosed (to them) health issues - obviously you don't have to say what the issue is here but without telling an employer they are going to find you being off a quarter of the time hard to cope with.

My understanding of the role was to offer help when ever possible rather than achieving an attendance rate. My health issues are the reason I'm in volunteer employment rather than paid. I didn't want a gap in my CV so opted for volunteering, but as I said before I didn't disclose these information. I think I will leave this and look for something else. As PP s advice I have sent them an email explaining this and asked for a letter to confirm my time spent there as a compromise.

OP, there was obviously a mis-match of expectations in this case. Going forward, you will know that most volunteer roles require a degree of commitment and regular attendance, even though the work is not paid. If that doesn't work for you, it would be helpful to the organisation if you could let them know at the outset that you won't be acme to attend regularly - they can then let you know if that will be a problem, or perhaps assign you to a role where you can be a bit more flexible.

It was agreed to volunteer certain days every week

My understanding of the role was to offer help when ever possible rather than achieving an attendance rate.

If you agreed to work set days every week then they would have been expecting you there on those days and arranged other volunteers accordingly. I'm not surprised they've refused a reference.

”It was agreed to volunteer certain days every week”

“My understanding of the role was to offer help when ever possible rather than achieving an attendance rate.”

Those two statements are completely contradictory I’m afraid. If they thought you’d committed to set days each week and you thought it was just turn up when you can, that’s why this hasn’t worked out.

You didn't disclose health related issues that affected your attendance
Your attendance was only 75%
You subsequently didn't notify them of an absence
I supervise volunteers and I'm afraid your lack of commitment would cause work for me and I wouldn't feel able to provide a reference for you.

OP have you misunderstood and thought that volunteering on say, Monday and Wednesday actually meant that you could choose to go on Monday and Wednesday if you wanted to?

For a voluntary job I wouldn’t worry too much about a reference, especially as you’d only been there 6 months. They might be doing you a favour actually as I can’t imagine prospective employers would look favourably upon your attendance levels, which are pretty poor.

Baked, I'm guessing the OP probably needed this reference? A lot of people are volunteering for that, especially young people with little or no work experience, it's fierce out there.