How to explain I don't want last employer to be asked for reference?

[twinklelill]

I have just been terminated from a role that I wanted to leave anyway. Reason was I wanted to email (to put it in writing) my absence and because I could not get a doctors appointment for the fit note before the deadline they imposed on me.

Me and another colleague were both abused there. She is taking it to tribunal. I was fearful to go in the end as I was threatened three times. Once by my line manager because she was sent an email that I sent to the well-being person expressing issues with said line manager and the way I was being treated by some other colleagues. She got me on my own and issued a threat about how she would deal with me outside of work. This tyrant had access to all my personal information.

The HR are equally as corrupt and take delight in ruining people (you can overhear them in a large open plan office saying what they gleefully do to sabotage others).

I have an interview and due to the threats I do not want them to know anything about me including where I may move on to.

How can I request that they don't ask my last employer for a reference, Without looking like I'm the problem

Can you start a grievance and then explain that their behaviour is the reason you don't want to contact them for a reference? It gives weight to your explanation.

It says on my termination letter that I'm not allowed to start a grievance against them.

I wish I had read the reviews before I started with the company as it tells of the culture of bullying, sexism, ageism, homophobia, ableism etc. Now my future could be affected. The good thing is that I am no longer feeling hopeless and in tears everyday.

They can say what they like but you Al can get on to your union or a solicitor and go for unfair dismissal etc

you have two choices

1. be honest with your proposed employer about the issues and ask them to take other references too
2. temporary work or volunteering or a previous employer to take you on for a month or so / so that you use them

either your solicitor needs to at the bare minimum get a reference agreed

I can't go for unfair dismissal, as I was only there for 6 months and quite honestly I just want to move on.

The thing is I don't want a reference from them. They will pass my information around like they did with my email. I don't want them to know anything about me. They are the most disgusting people I have ever worked with.

How could I explain it without being earmarked as drama and trouble?

It's so unfair before I went I'll another new person confided in me what a manager and her cohorts were doing to her to start the bullying.

I wish employers would recognise that some places are toxic and it's not always the employee who is the problem.

You can't legally be prevented from bringing a grievance against an employer.

I would just leave them off my cv

If you do this, do they show on your P45 though?

I work in HR. If someone performed well at an interview, had good references from the two employers before this one, given you were only there for 6 months, if you told me that you'd left due to bullying quite factually without coming across as being malicious, I would take a chance.

If you did decide to leave it off your CV, bear in mind that they'll be on your P45, but you don't actually need it to start a new job.

I'm sorry you've had this experience, toxic workplaces, supported by unprofessional HR teams make my blood boil. They give my profession a bad name.

It sounds awful, if I were you I probably wouldn’t start a grievance either because it will just drag out the upset for you and you won’t get the satisfaction you want anyway.

I’d just probably tell a white lie and say it was a temp job that came to an end and explain very calmly that the manager there was a creep so you’d rather he didn’t know where you’d moved on to, and you’d could they possibly contact your 2nd last employer for a reference instead and maybe offer a personal reference from former colleagues too, because you were there for such a short time they might agree.

@LightSpeeds you're probably right actually.

Perhaps mention them after you have the job offer. They'll gave to give you a reference to say you've worked there and weren't in prison etc and you'll get other references to show that you're good.

Do you have a colleague there that can give you a personal reference?

If it's only 6 months just don't mention them and use a previous employer. It's going to be recent enough that any new employer should be happy with it

Totally agree with this. Be honest with the new prospective employer. Any recruiter worth their salt will be able to look past this. They may still require a referee to over the time period, but you can agree an alternative with them.

Call ACAS but you can submit a formal grievance if you want. They can’t stop you.

Thanks everybody.

I can't be bothered to start a grievance. They know all my details, as the manager told me she was looking it all up on the HR system. So they would get their retribution.

I already put the job on my CV and said it was a temp job I put the name of the very large company who we contract for. I have a update service DBS, so hopefully that will prove that I haven't been to prison.

P.s Be careful of well-being people apparently in some establishments, they are trying to get your thoughts to protect HR and the company. If I had read the reviews of the workplace I would have be warned about that. No wonder they kept trying to force me to speak to her!