Offer withdrawn following reference

[hiredandsqueak]

Dd's offer of employment has been withdrawn following the reference sent by the employer prior to her current one. She has asked to see the reference as she is unaware as to any issues that could have resulted in a poor reference as during her employment there were no issues raised with her, no capability issues,no disciplinary issues and no sickness record issues. Even more concerning is that her former manager seems to have chosen to ignore policy of referring request to HR where policy is to issue a generic reference and to write the reference himself. Dd has a disability and saw OH but other than adapted seating and mouse and keyboard she needed no further adjustments. Any advice please?

That sucks but there's really not much she can do now, they're unlikely to change their mind. I wouldn't waste any energy on this, best to put all her energy into finding another job. And provide the HR dept details on any future applications, rather than the manager's details.

I would go on .gov and find a template letter to submit a "subject access request". State that she requires all references sent, mu any means, by anybody in the company to xcompanynamex between ydate and zdate.
I would also check my buildings cover to see if I have legal cover and if this includes your daughter/employment matters.
I would also send one to the new company requesting all records they hold regarding me.

Your DD has done the right thing in asking to see the reference, if this is not forthcoming she needs to formally submit a Subject Access Request which will provide her with any data her current employer holds on her (including the reference). She should speak to her HR department on Monday morning to advise them of the situation. If the dynamics mean she is comfortable to do so, is she also able to discuss with her boss’s boss?

She should submit a GDPR subject access request for the reference (and any information they hold about her) from both prospective employer and previous employer. Then she can decide if is a bad but factual reference or a bad and unfactual/untrue reference. At least she’ll know the impact of using that employer as a referee in future. If there is anything untrue/unfactual which is linked to her disability then you can consider further action.

The reference may be exempt from a subject access request if it is clear they are treated as confidential.

"Confidential references
You may receive a SAR from a worker for references. These could cover references that you either provided to other organisations or that you received at the start of their employment.

However, under UK GDPR, confidential references are exempt, when provided for the purposes of:

education, training, or employment of someone;
someone working as a volunteer;
appointing someone to office; or
provision of any service by someone.
The exemption applies regardless of whether you give or receive the reference."

ico.org.uk/for-organisations/uk-gdpr-guidance-and-resources/employment/subject-access-request-q-and-as-for-employers/#withhold