What if I lose my job offer because previous employer is giving the wrong reference?

[boringlyboring]

I was employed by one company twice, so (dates not exact)

2012 - position A
Short break
2017 - position B

It's an outsourcing company, so the 2 depts have no connection to each other (separate clients), and it is classed as separate employment. I don't work for this company now.

I have a new job offer with an LA who are strict on referencing and I can't get a formal offer until they have both employment refs. Have been waiting for 6 weeks for my previous employer to respond and they have sent details of my employment in position A.

The same thing happened with my current employer, after I left position B at old company. We went around in circles for a bit until eventually my current employer accepted other proof of employment (I had already started the new position, they were happy with my work and satisfied that I wasn't fibbing about my employment history).

So in the past it was never resolved.

I informed HR at LA that this might happen again, and asked they specify 'most recent' on the reference request. I also emailed the ref team myself asking they confirm the correct dates. This obviously hasn't worked.

My previous line managers can't issue references, the HR dept there cannot help (they are just an 'advice' line for policies and procedures), and the reference team is only available via email and located overseas. So I can't speak to anyone there. The reference process is very 'computer says no', they will just issue the first thing that the system brings up, not actually look at the details.

In the meantime, I'm stuck in limbo, and can't set anything in motion with my new offer of employment. I'm also really worried that my offer will be withdrawn, as it's subject to satisfactory references. Or they might get sick of waiting.

What can I do? I'm jumping the gun, but given it was never resolved before, if my offer is withdrawn this time, do I have any grounds to do anything? It's technically a factual reference but it's for the wrong time.

I am really stressing about this, and feel awful that the LA have been held up this long (I still need to give a months notice at current place, and can't do that until I have my formal offer)

Your previous employer has a duty of care towards you. Giving an incorrect reference (i.e. for the wrong period of employment) arguably breaches that duty of care. Failure to correct the incorrect reference is also potentially a breach of GDPR. It is possible you will be able to take action against your old employer if the job offer is withdrawn as a result of their failure to give a correct reference. You need to consult a solicitor if you want to go down this route.

I agree with prh that it would be appropriate to threaten them (lightly) with legal action if they don’t get it sorted. Start with contacting local HR, local line managers and the reference team and saying that this is now urgent and if their failure to remedy their error results in you losing this job offer you will be referring the issue to your solicitors. Are you a member of a union? Do you have legal expenses cover on your home insurance?

Thanks so much for the replies, I've just felt like I've hit a brick wall.

While I know employers aren't obliged to even give a reference, it makes me feel better that I might have grounds to do something if I do lose the offer.

Not in a union, but will have legal cover with home ins.

I'm just hoping it doesn't put a dampener on working relationships before I've even started (assuming I will eventually start!), because they've had to wait so long and go back and forth.

Thanks again

Just an update to this, my job offer is now being reviewed because they haven't been able to obtain a reference.

So from job offer to now:

Start of September - job offer made, references requested around 10th.

16th Oct - I get an email from new job to complete a consent form due to GDPR (I had no idea, and wasn't told I needed this when I called old HR to confirm the contact details for references). Sent that straight away

18th Oct - reference received with the 'wrong' dates

I have obviously been on the phone to previous line managers, and one finally said to try giving the new job my old user ID to include on the ref request, so ref team can search that instead. This was done last week.

Since then I have sent several emails chasing. As of yesterday, no ref has been sent, and my job offer is being reviewed. Both mine and new employers emails have gone unanswered.

I have offered a copy of hmrc records, and an alternative reference in the meantime but I really dont know if this will be enough (and tbh if I was an employer, I think I'd have lost patience by now, and picked another candidate who could start at short notice).

I honestly don't know what to do, I know a pp has said to consult a solicitor but I'm technically not losing financially as I'm still employed.

I have sent another email today stating that their delay has potentially put my job at risk and to please respond asap. No idea if that was adviseable. I haven't made any veiled/gentle threat of legal action as I wasn't sure if that would rile anyone up and cause more problems.

Sorry if this is garbled, but I am so upset at the thought of losing out on this job. Not only that, but it's the 2nd time it's happened. First time I thought it will have just been an easy mistake to make. It looks like it will just keep happening, unless I somehow get my old details removed from their records?

I feel the only way to get out of this cycle is to try and take a temp agency job who might be more relaxed with references, but that is obviously risky as I still have a mortgage to pay so I'm stuck. Such a shitty situation over a minor detail

Does your old company have a data protection officer? You could try a complaint to them?

I'm technically not losing financially as I'm still employed

If the new job is better paid than your existing job you are losing financially.

I asked an old manager who I could complain to, they didn't know. They suggested I contact HR or email ref team direct, which I had already done but other than that he doesn't know how to escalate it.

Communication is really difficult at the company.

I will find out if they have a data protection officer, but I'm not entirely sure how I would word the complaint to fit GDPR? I've been reading up on GDPR after a pp suggested this could be a breach, as I feel like focusing on that would be taken more seriously. But I'm not entirely sure which part has been breached

Hi prh, sorry I missed your recent reply. Yes it's slightly more pay (not by much), but also better benefits and wfh. It's such an amazing opportunity that I'm unlikely to get elsewhere.

In an ideal world, I don't want to lose the job offer and then try to take action, I just want my old company to email them 2 poxy dates.

Can a line manager not so this for you? I had a terrible time trying to get a reference for an NHS post it took months. My previous company sold over and I left before the new manager started. I kept in regular contact with the NHS and explained what was happening, but after much waiting we finally got there. Hopefully you won't be waiting to long and don't feel bad for putting the pressure on your old employer xx

Have you checked with the LA what their actual policy re references is? Usually it's most recent employer - who I assume has forwarded reference - and 1 other. They seem to have at least one other reference.

Why not offer them a character reference too?

Who is the outsourcing company? Would writing an open letter to them on social media help? Or emailing CEO or someone.

The managers there aren't allowed to provide references unfortunately, it all has to go through that particular dept of HR.

The LA asked for 2 refs, 1 current employer and the other most recent. On the application form, iirc, it said character references only acceptable if you don't have 2 employment references.

They do have my current employers ref, which was good (boss told me he gave positive comments too rather than just basic dates). This is the other issue, boss knows I'm leaving but he's also not in a position to recruit until I officially hand my notice in, and the closer we get to Xmas period the more difficult it becomes to recruit for this industry.

I've emailed offering other proof and an additional reference, whether that be from another employer (though it would be years old and basic) or a character reference on this occasion.

The last update I had from LA was that they were reviewing the offer on the basis of only being to obtain one reference. This was after I offered alternatives, so I'm assuming it's unlikely they'll accept alternatives.

I just don't understand how this can be so difficult to sort out.

Possibly the ceo lulualla, thanks. I'm not on social media, but I'm going to try and find the ceo details.

I wouldn't like say which company, but honestly they are so difficult to contact, and there's just a disconnect between the departments. So for eg my email and the LA emails won't be dealt with as being related (HR told me that they won't make the connection between the emails, that's just the way it is)

Who are you speaking to at the LA? Maybe try someone higher up? They have a reference from the other employer don't they? You can prove you did work for them both times. It's not that they can't get a reference - they have a factually accurate one.

Honestly as a recruiter I've had all sorts of issues with references for staff but it's all forgotten now and I couldn't tell you who's was a pain and whose was easy. Push it if you really want the job.

It's the LAs HR, and my would be line manager that I'm dealing with. I'm not sure even if I contact someone higher up, that I can ask them to change their rules?

They have a reference but one that's irrelevant as it's from 6-7 years ago. So if they just go by references, it looks like I didn't work at the company when I said I did. It's also for a different position. So my application states for e.g 'finance clerk' 2017-2018 but the ref given is 'customer service' 2013-2015.

The earlier dates are technically correct, but it's not my most recent employment.

I have been in contact with both LA and old company almost daily (well one sided contact with the latter mostly), and offering alternatives and proof, but I can't make the decision whether LA will accept it.

For GDPR you don't need to word it any particular way - just explain that you are about to lose a job offer because the company is not confirming accurate information about you in the reference and explain what's happened so far.
A decent data protection officer should be able to sort it out - depends who they have though.
You could also make a subject access request for information the company holds about you - although they will have a month to answer.
It sounds like you just need to find someone with some common sense and power to fix it - have you tried phoning as well as emailing?

I've emailed offering other proof and an additional reference, whether that be from another employer (though it would be years old and basic) or a character reference on this occasion.

Why not take it 1 step further and send (snail mail - recorded del, signed for) a copy of your contract of employment, plus pay slips to show current salary. Write a covering letter to say sorry that your previous employer is tardy in sending the reference but you hope they will accept the documents as proof of employment, start-end dates and role title during your employment at Job B.

If you send it first class, they should have it Tues/Wednesday at the latest.

I've worked for an LA before and our HR department has strict rules. However I have recruited people where the employers references haven't been easily obtainable (eg SAHM returning to job market after several years at home). We have been able to accept character references in that case.

I would think your best bet at this stage is to try to persuade the LA to go down the character reference route. They have a reference from your current employer and from your previous employer (albeit not with the most recent dates). If you're able to get a reference from someone in the community- maybe someone you've been on a committee with? Years ago I used the Chair of Governors at the school.where I was a governor as one of my referees.

I'd be escalating to the head of whichever team the referencing team works for - this needs a fix immediately as it'll always cause a problem for you f you need a reference from that 2017 job
It's ridiculous they're ignoring emails