Need Advice: Referee Unavailable for Pre-Employment Checks

[MysticalMelody]

Hello.

I recently received a provisional offer with the Civil Service and am currently in the midst of pre-employment checks and vetting. However, I've encountered a bit of a situation with my referees and I'm seeking advice from those experienced in HR matters (had been advised before and this was extremely helpful).

One of my referees is currently on vacation until the end of August, which is not a problem as they assured me they'll be available after that. The bigger concern is the other two referees. When I tried to contact them via email, I received a delivery failed message. Upon further investigation, it seems that these people had both left their previous employment.

What happens in a scenario where a referee is no longer available due to leaving their position with the organisation (in my case, a private organisation)?

How is this situation handled by the vetting team? My professional industry is relatively small and extremely tightly regulated, and connections often know each other within the community. Considering this, I'm wondering if it's feasible for the vetting team to directly contact the HR department of the referees (at their previous employment) to request reference checks (as far as I am aware they usually provide the employment dates only!). This would be my preferred option.

Personally, if the vetting team comes back to me for an alternative contact, it might be quite challenging for me and this makes me anxious. Therefore, I am hoping to gather insights and suggestions from those who might have encountered similar situations or have experience in HR processes.

Thank you in advance for your time and assistance.

Your advice will be greatly appreciated.

What sort of referees are these? At my company, all references come from HR - who won’t even have met the staff in most cases - and individual managers, team leaders or colleagues aren’t allowed to give references at all. That’s a normal scenario, as far as I know.

It's completely normal these days for references to come from HR and just confirm role and dates of employment. I honestly wouldn't worry.

Find out the HR details at the two companies where the people have left and government those as referees

@Neverseenbefore Referees for employment as opposed to a countersignatory referee. The latter has been contacted by me in advance and knows that she will be contacted by the vetting team.

@PurpleSteak I cannot provide the HR details, firstly because I cannot find any hr contact details on the firms' websites (it seems to be a top secret!) and, secondly, because you have a specific form you fill in when you submit details for pre-employment checks and they do not allow you to provide generic email details. These specific entries are as follows: What position did you hold? Contact name for reference. Email address of the referee. What was his/her position?

I guess, the best approach would be to just wait and see if the vetting team comes back to me.

Thanks, guys.

I think that there are two main options here.

One is to find the two individuals on LinkedIn, contact them and ask them to provide references. This is really common- previous staff reach out to me all the time. They’ll give you an up to date contact which you can then send to the hr department if they come back to you.

The second option is to call the company, explain that you worked there from x to y date and need a reference but your original line manager has moved on. Then ask for an email address that you can use for hr.