Will not be receiving reference from previous employer

[Burgeco]

Hello,
Could you please help me with this query.

What happens to the job offer if the previous employer does not respond to the reference inquiry from the new employer?
Does it jeopardize the job offer?
Or will it be possible to present other documents, such as earlier references obtained for visa, or certified P60 form?

Or does it mean there is no chance of finding a job in UK at all?

Thank you very much for your responses.

 

[WaveJumper]

Hi Burgeco and welcome to the UKBF. Companies generally will respond to a reference request they may only give the basics i.e. worked here from and too however:

“It is commonly assumed that a previous employer must give a reference and is legally prohibited from giving a bad one. ... Your employer can give you a bad or unfavourable reference, but only if they genuinely believe it to be true and accurate and have reasonable grounds for that belief”

They may just refuse to supply a reference altogether leaving your new employer to read into that what they may. Is there a reason why you think you previous employer is going to give you a bad reference have you been totally honest with your potential new employer?

 

[Paul Norman]

The answer will depend entirely on the company making the job offer.

Some will have a simplistic approach. Others will be more flexible. It is not all that rare for companies not to respond to reference requests, and certainly it is not unusual for them to take a long time to do so.

Personally, if I can verify your employment record without it, I would be happen to do so.

Is there a reason, that you know of, for them not to respond?

 

[Burgeco]

Thank you for your quick responses.
The HR department has noted that I won't be getting a reference.

It's due to an error I made on my last day due to poor panic judgement and fever I had, which I immediately remediated on my side. So my conscious is clear. However that's the way the former employer is "punishing" me.

In terms of proof that I worked for my previous company, I have other documents and earlier references which state all the information that the general references would provide, and more.

However I am worried what will happen to potential job offers?

Basically, am I doomed to not finding a job at all?

 

[MBE2017]

Been a long time since I was asked for a reference, but I had left a company under awkward circumstances, I got on great with the owner, his sons, workforce, but not his wife. She was, shall I be kind and say probably going through the change of life, and delighted in trying to annoy and upset anyone whenever possible.

After three months I was fed up, after six months I thought, what am I putting up with the cow for? I promptly spoke to the owner and stated I was leaving because his wife was such a bitch. He apologised and agreed with everything I said, offered to try and get her to back off, but I said it was best to leave, which I did approx 5 mins after speaking to him, no notice or anything, but he kindly gave a months wages anyway.

When asked for a reference I just mentioned the reason, once people learnt the name of the company 90% said, oh, her. You have the job. She is well known for her abrasive attitude and loses the owner a lot of business, she has taken a back seat since and no longer works at the offices involved.

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

Dont worry about it
Alot this stuff that goes on is just a load of old b£££££ks

I dont even understand most of the corporate waffle and lingo that gets talked about in the employment sections here and I built a business that looks after me very nicely thank you

I think much of the waffle that gets invented in the work world is just made up to make people make themselves look more important than they really are and this pulls the wool over the eyes of their superiors who are even bigger dumb asses .

All you people employed in the corporate work world and trying to get up some ladder that does not exist and using words or descriptions of things that I dont understand are a big bunch Ball ££££££s

 

[WaveJumper]

Dont worry about it
Alot this stuff that goes on is just a load of old b£££££ks

I dont even understand most of the corporate waffle and lingo that gets talked about in the employment sections here and I built a business that looks after me very nicely thank you

I think much of the waffle that gets invented in the work world is just made up to make people make themselves look more important than they really are and this pulls the wool over the eyes of their superiors who are even bigger dumb asses .

All you people employed in the corporate work world and trying to get up some ladder that does not exist and using words or descriptions of things that I dont understand are a big bunch Ball ££££££s

Love it and you can add to the list the stupid reports you're asked to produce, in ridiculous time scales and then just go straight in someones top draw never to see the light of day

 

[fisicx]

Dont worry about it
Alot this stuff that goes on is just a load of old b£££££ks

I dont even understand most of the corporate waffle and lingo that gets talked about in the employment sections here and I built a business that looks after me very nicely thank you

I think much of the waffle that gets invented in the work world is just made up to make people make themselves look more important than they really are and this pulls the wool over the eyes of their superiors who are even bigger dumb asses .

All you people employed in the corporate work world and trying to get up some ladder that does not exist and using words or descriptions of things that I dont understand are a big bunch Ball ££££££s

But we can’t all run our own businesses. If we did you wouldn’t be able to do what you do. There would be no vehicles, no fuel, no internet, no phones. You need big business.

 

[IanSuth]

i did 27 years in recruitment and came across this a few times

It all depends upon the new employer - I even placed a guy who had done 3mths for theft of computer parts in an IT job. All by being honest with the prospective employer and giving them all the info (he had built and sold new machines out of the good bits of decommissioned ones whilst working for an outsourcer and as they were officially scrapped it was counted as theft due to a combination of poor legal advice, several press stories at the time and a grumpy judge)

If I was you if a prospective job gets to 2nd interview stage and you have that conversation about "why did you leave last role" I would tell them exactly what happened and say "I beleive because of this you will only get a simple confirmation of the dates I worked for them when you ask for a reference" - that is actually what they are most likely to reply with if asked and if they don't answer at all the person who has made you a job offer "subject to references" will not be overly surprised either

The worst thing you can do is ignore it and hope it never causes an issue

 

[Mr D]

I had a previous manager that after I left the company bad mouthed me to all her contacts and gave bad references.
Didn't stop me getting jobs. A few times she didn't even bother replying until after I had started new job (on purpose), simply filed into personnel file.
Her poor judgement ended up being the best advertising I could have asked for. I just never thanked her for that.

 

[Paul Norman]

I doubt very much if you are doomed never to get a job. As mentioned by a number of us, most employers don't really take the references that seriously. It is fairly easy to fake up a good one, and a grumpy over reaction such as the one you experienced will mean someone sulks and refuses to write one.

It is exactly for that reason I tend not to join in the game. I interview you. I can validate most/some of your career to date. I hire you.

 

[Burgeco]

Thank you all for your responses. That's quite helpful and hopeful.

 

[DontAsk]

I would tell them exactly what happened and say "I beleive because of this you will only get a simple confirmation of the dates I worked for them when you ask for a reference"

That's all you will get, in any case, from a lot of employers these days. Covering their a***s and too scared to tell the truth.

In my last job (large well known multi-national) we had an on-line portal where you could generate your own reference for various purposes.

 

[paulears]

I was asked for a reference from a previous employer - I left in 2004. They had no record of me spending 15 years of my life there, and all my ex-colleagues had retired. They did manage to confirm my leaving date, which didn't seem quite right - but for data protection reasons, 'archive' and 'legacy' records are not available and apparently are somewhere in hard copy in cardboard boxes!

 

[Mr D]

I was asked for a reference from a previous employer - I left in 2004. They had no record of me spending 15 years of my life there, and all my ex-colleagues had retired. They did manage to confirm my leaving date, which didn't seem quite right - but for data protection reasons, 'archive' and 'legacy' records are not available and apparently are somewhere in hard copy in cardboard boxes!

Yes, some data is held for decades.
Handy when claiming for industrial problems later on - my grandfather died 50 odd years ago and the family did eventually get to put a claim in about his death due to the mineworking.
Most people don't keep viable proof of employment for the necessary time.

 

[nelioneil]

Yes, some data is held for decades.
Handy when claiming for industrial problems later on - my grandfather died 50 odd years ago and the family did eventually get to put a claim in about his death due to the mineworking.
Most people don't keep viable proof of employment for the necessary time.

There was a time where records of employers liability must be kept for 40 years! I think this was reduced since.

 

[Mr D]

There was a time where records of employers liability must be kept for 40 years! I think this was reduced since.

Was 40 years last I looked around 3 years or so ago.
Would not surprise me if the time increased at some point. 40 years at one time was a working life, now it's 50 and likely be 60 years eventually.
Rather than boxed files and microfiche these days it can be various format electronic files. Which should be stored in multiple backups.

Of course, only relevant data stored.... But who decides relevance in 30 years?