DH has resigned to avoid dismissal - what job prospects? Sorry, long.

[appledumpling]

DH was arrested last week for theft from his employer (he has admitted everything).

Obviously a disciplinary process was under way and the guaranteed outcome was summary dismissal without notice for gross misconduct.

DH was not contesting any of this so in order to avoid the hearing and being dismissed he tendered his resignation this morning with immediate effect. It has been accepted and the hearing will not happen or appear on his record. The firm will give a neutral reference as and when required.

We obviously don't know if he will be charged or not - his solicitor says there is enough evidence but it is quite possible they may decide not to bother. The latest we will find out about the charge is the end of April.

So: should DH be looking for a job now or should he go and volunteer somewhere until he knows if he is being charged?

At such point as he does start job searching, what does he say to employers/agencies about the abrupt departure from what was clearly a good and stable job?

Thanks for any help or advice.

Hmm, not so sure about the reference tbh. An employer has an obligation when giving a reference not to give an overall misleading impression so if they refuse to answer a question about whether your DH was subject to any disciplinary proceedings at the time he left, for example, or refuse to answer a question about his trustworthiness, and a future employer then found out about this incident, his previous employer could be in some trouble. Have they actually given him some kind of guarantee about a reference or something? Hard to see what their incentive for doing so would be really, but perhaps they are prepared to take the risk and guarantee a neutral one.

Sorry, don't want to put a downer on what's obviously an already stressful situation.

I'd suggest he starts looking now anyway. If you'll hear no later than end April, that's not long away so he's unlikely to have applied for, been for an interview for and been offered a job all in that time anyway. May as well get started asap.

If his employer have agreed to give a neutral reference he should coordinate with them what will be said about reason for leaving and ensure anything he says to agencies or employers ties in with that.

In a rush so no time to find the legal precedents but basically anyone giving a reference has a duty of care towards both the employee and the prospective new employer. If the new employer suffers a financial loss as a result of a negligent reference, the previous employer could be sued for that loss.