Will my job offer be withdrawn?

[Alice558]

Hi Guys,

I am just looking for some advice really....

I was recently offered a HCA job in the NHS and i previously left my old workplace due to bullying. I was off sick for 2 months and i have declared this in my occupational health questionnaire.

Now, I left back in October, and i was in the fortunate position to leave as I had savings, enough where i could not sign on the dole. I provided 2 references for the past 3 years from my two previous jobs, however because i was unemployed from October to now they are asking me for a reference in that space. So they want one from October to January (when i was offered the job). I have explained to them I have no social circle and i know no one, i mean NO ONE (of high standing). I have asked my dentist, optician and teacher and doctor and they have all refused to give a job reference.

I have been explaining this for about a month now to them but i feel like i am going around in circles and i just want to know where i stand, does it seem likely they will withdraw the offer?

Thank you
Alice

Do your parents have any friends who could confirm you've been living there maybe?

It's quite unusual for someone to have no one to confirm anything, which is why they are probably struggling.

Relatives can’t vouch for you, though maybe they know someone.
Can your MP help? You can at least complain to them about it while you are at it.

I don’t think it’s unusual at all -not someone with a non-personal email address. I can’t write references for work colleagues, and nor can any managers, at my workplace. Expressly forbidden. We wouldn’t even be allowed to write something in a personal capacity using a work email address.

No help but I’d hazard a guess it’s the same stupid employment algorithm that almost lost my husband his dream job as he couldn’t account for 3wks between jobs 16yrs previously. He’d simply taken 3wks between finishing at his old job and starting his new one because we had a 6wk old baby. We used savings and it allowed us both to bond with our newborn.

The computer program being run by the recruitment consultants (high end investment banking) advised the bank not to employ him as their searches had shown worrying gaps in his employment history. Thankfully, he emailed it all directly to the woman who had interviewed him and she overruled it. My point being it could be a useless algorithm and perhaps talking to a human might help. Good luck.

Same here. I'm a professional, but wouldn't be allowed to do this using my work address. Because it's utterly unconnected with work!

It's not the slightest bit unusual to take a short gap between jobs. Sometimes only a few weeks, but maybe a few months.

And it's also not unusual not to know anyone who could use their work email to give you a reference. Most employers don't allow that sort of thing.

OP - I really would ask to speak to someone more senior about it. Alternatively, someone you know who is self employed (with a business email account) might be willing to write something for you.

The thing is, what exactly will the reference say?

"I know Alice558 and she was definitely alive from XX to YY"

Just to add, at this point he was 43, had a degree and an MBA, had been to 2 universities and worked in financial services for 22yrs needing a regular DBS and Disclosure of Scotland check and yet they wanted him to account for literally every day since he was 16yrs! 🙄

I'm so glad that this is finally being discussed. Rishi and Jeremy Hunt want people in work and yet one of the UKs biggest employer does this!

Jobs I failed to accept due NHS referencing rules (in my region!)

1. Database Administrator
2. Social prescribing project coordinator
3. Junior clinical imaging (they wanted people with techie skills to apply)
4. Trainee Clinical coder

I'd love to work there. But until my work history covers 3 full years - I can't. 😂

I guess it varies around the UK depending on the trust

does the email back with reference have to come from the same email address? surely its just used to confirm that person X legit works for company XYZ - but the person can forward it to their home email and answer from there

No company would have the slighest issue (surely) with someone in an email saying Yes i am Sally X who works as an accountant for B PLC and i also know Bob and can confirm they were not working from a-b period.

As thats NOT a company reference, thats you doing something off your own personal capacity. They can confirm you work for B Plc via linked in just thr same.

I was in the fortunate position to leave as I had savings, enough where i could not sign on the dole.

Even if you're not eligible for benefits, you 'sign on' as a Jobseeker for just such an occasion.

I would be very tempted to just make up a professional looking email address - after all you rent a room to a self employed (insert profession of choice) don’t you?! And then just reply back as that fictional person…. After all, how the hell are they going to know? It’s just a tick box exercise and sometimes you have to be creative to get things done.

I like that idea! I might use it

We can’t forward work emails to a personal email account. Not allowed.

Loads of people don’t have LinkedIn. I don’t.

I used to be a hiring manager in the NHS (several yrs ago), and this must be a recent thing as I know I hired people with CV gaps.

E.g. one woman in my team had taken time out to care for her children etc. The gap was explained on her application and I was never required to obtain further proof. We followed up her professional references and that was it.

Also, anyone can claim to work for any company on LinkedIn. There are no real checks! It proves nothing.

Any family members not related by blood or marriage e.g. uncles/aunties partners, cousins partners etc. that came write a character reference. It doesn't have to be more than a few sentences.

Also your employer is probably also keen for you to start by now, have you contacted them directly or are you dealing with HR? I would explain to them and they may be able to push HR to be more reasonable?

Oh you could try your landlord? They should be able to say you pay rent ontime and are a quiet pleasent tennent? Hopefully. That might do?

But if you’re off sick and feeling psychologically vulnerable, dealing with the vagaries of “the system” can be too much. You can’t register for Jobseekers because you are not looking for a job. I know a few people in the OP’s position -they are not registered with “the system” at all. They claim no benefits, have enough savings to live off for a while.

The OP lives with her parents at home.

The reference thing is ridiculous, no idea how to help you with that.

But wanted to mention you could have “gone on the dole” regardless of your savings and should have. You should have applied for new style Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) which is not means tested at all. How long you get it depends on your NI record of past contributions.

JSA also gives you NI credits towards state pension for the weeks you are out of work. As it is, being out of work from Oct to present and not claiming JSA will mean you won’t have a full year for 22/23 towards your state pension and will have to pay £££ to top it up….all because you didn’t claim JSA.

Something to remember for future periods between jobs. Too, you might not have needed a reference if you had been claiming JSA as that is proof you were not in prison or inpatient in a psychiatric hospital.

OP, please don't do this - this is fraudulent and if you are found out you will most likely end up in a more difficult position than you are now!

How can she claim JSA when she wasn’t looking for a job?

It’s a two minute online application and as it’s based on your NI contributions you are not required to look for work, and you cannot be sanctioned. Only when your new style JSA entitlement runs out (how long it lasts depends on your NI record), and go on UC with income based JSA do you have to deal with the benefits system.

Op- could you pop this dilemma up on your Facebook page (if you have one). If you ask one of your contacts might be able to help.