Discussion
The law if fairly broad.
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/Startingane...
Reason I ask is that a while back I had an interview, and somehow my manager found out about this. Said to a colleague of mine "The worlds a small place these days" And all of a sudden that job offer is retracted ostentiously for reasons of "I've been told not to employ that role anymore"
Then a week or so back I had another interview for a similar role elsewhere and the interviewer said "Oh I used to work with Mr X 10 years ago"
And again, I've heard nothing back regarding this job application either.
Now obviously, Mr X is not going to put any of this in writing as he'd screw himself over. But if he was to verbally make comments then I would have no way of proving it. And I'm going to assume that if I asked him straight up, he's not about to tell me "Yep, I wanted to f
k you over"
But what redress would I have if my referee chose to be "difficult"? And how would I prove it?
In the meantime I've changed my referee on my CV, but I've sent it to a lot of places recently, and it feels an awful lot like the horse has bolted
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/Startingane...
Reason I ask is that a while back I had an interview, and somehow my manager found out about this. Said to a colleague of mine "The worlds a small place these days" And all of a sudden that job offer is retracted ostentiously for reasons of "I've been told not to employ that role anymore"
Then a week or so back I had another interview for a similar role elsewhere and the interviewer said "Oh I used to work with Mr X 10 years ago"
And again, I've heard nothing back regarding this job application either. Now obviously, Mr X is not going to put any of this in writing as he'd screw himself over. But if he was to verbally make comments then I would have no way of proving it. And I'm going to assume that if I asked him straight up, he's not about to tell me "Yep, I wanted to f
k you over" But what redress would I have if my referee chose to be "difficult"? And how would I prove it?
In the meantime I've changed my referee on my CV, but I've sent it to a lot of places recently, and it feels an awful lot like the horse has bolted
Most references fro HR these days are "I confirm that XXX worked with us from 1/1/2005 to 1/1/2007 in the stated role..."
Many companies are afraid of being sued if they give a reference that says anything positive or negative about the person.
If in doubt, get personal referees.
If it's a small market, it is very tricky, sadly that people know each other but unusual to block moves.
Many companies are afraid of being sued if they give a reference that says anything positive or negative about the person.
If in doubt, get personal referees.
If it's a small market, it is very tricky, sadly that people know each other but unusual to block moves.
purplepolarbear said:
Can you get someone to call Mr X and say he's thinking of taking you on?
If they have provided anything in writing I suppose you could try the data protection act and ask the company who withdrew the offer for all the information they have about you.
Have you read the DPA in relation to subject access requests and references? It is not as clear as ask and get. As with many of these things there is a lot of 'guidance' but little compulsion. If they have provided anything in writing I suppose you could try the data protection act and ask the company who withdrew the offer for all the information they have about you.
edc said:
Lesson learnt: don't put referees on a CV. It doesn't help you in the initial screening stage or CV vet.
I never put references on a CV as once you know more about the job you have applied for, you can then tailor the references to the job. Perhaps more relevent when you are a "general" contractor like me 
And be careful of the people you add in on linked in/facebook/et al, consider them as unofficial references.
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