Can I ask these pre interview questions?
Discussion
Just a quick question, can I ask the following questions to be answered prior to interview?
Have you ever taken an employer to a tribunal?
Has an employer ever had reason to take legal action against you?
How many days sick have you had in the last year?
Do you have any illness's or situations outside work that may effect your day to day work or timekeeping?
Have you ever had either a verbal or written warning, if so what for?
I have successfully employed over the years but recently been caught out and I am curious to establish if these questions are fair and within 'employment rules' or even employment law!
Have you ever taken an employer to a tribunal?
Has an employer ever had reason to take legal action against you?
How many days sick have you had in the last year?
Do you have any illness's or situations outside work that may effect your day to day work or timekeeping?
Have you ever had either a verbal or written warning, if so what for?
I have successfully employed over the years but recently been caught out and I am curious to establish if these questions are fair and within 'employment rules' or even employment law!
mogul said:
Just a quick question, can I ask the following questions to be answered prior to interview?
Have you ever taken an employer to a tribunal?
Has an employer ever had reason to take legal action against you?
How many days sick have you had in the last year?
Do you have any illness's or situations outside work that may effect your day to day work or timekeeping?
Have you ever had either a verbal or written warning, if so what for?
I have successfully employed over the years but recently been caught out and I am curious to establish if these questions are fair and within 'employment rules' or even employment law!
Have you ever taken an employer to a tribunal?
Has an employer ever had reason to take legal action against you?
How many days sick have you had in the last year?
Do you have any illness's or situations outside work that may effect your day to day work or timekeeping?
Have you ever had either a verbal or written warning, if so what for?
I have successfully employed over the years but recently been caught out and I am curious to establish if these questions are fair and within 'employment rules' or even employment law!
Qs 1,2,and 4 perfectly reasonable, Q3 could be construed as a bit dodgy - if they don't get the job they could argue in a tribunal that you were biased against them unfairly. Q5 they'll just lie anyway.
And, yes as per the other post the criminal conviction thing should be on the application form or worded in their offer letter so if it turns out they have and lied you can fire their ass without fear of reprisal in court.
Interesting and I understand concern re the number of days sick question.
I assume that if they answer no to the verbal/written warning question and i find out they have had, then again if need be I will be able to use this against them if necessary.
Does anyone use an employment application form and would they be willing to share their trade secrets?
I assume that if they answer no to the verbal/written warning question and i find out they have had, then again if need be I will be able to use this against them if necessary.
Does anyone use an employment application form and would they be willing to share their trade secrets?
Sorry but don't use application forms any more - go by cvs. If you've got something in mind tho I don't mind having a look hrough it and giving you some feedback.
On the written warning front, you'd never find out in a way you coud use it, so I wouldn't sweat over that one tbh. The previous employer will never tell you as you can't give someone a bad reference any more. If anyone tells you anything it has to be off the record so you can't use it anyway.
On the written warning front, you'd never find out in a way you coud use it, so I wouldn't sweat over that one tbh. The previous employer will never tell you as you can't give someone a bad reference any more. If anyone tells you anything it has to be off the record so you can't use it anyway.
Stephanie Plum said:
Sorry but don't use application forms any more - go by cvs. If you've got something in mind tho I don't mind having a look hrough it and giving you some feedback.
On the written warning front, you'd never find out in a way you coud use it, so I wouldn't sweat over that one tbh. The previous employer will never tell you as you can't give someone a bad reference any more. If anyone tells you anything it has to be off the record so you can't use it anyway.
On the written warning front, you'd never find out in a way you coud use it, so I wouldn't sweat over that one tbh. The previous employer will never tell you as you can't give someone a bad reference any more. If anyone tells you anything it has to be off the record so you can't use it anyway.
Stephanie
Thanks for your reply.
I'm away for a couple of weeks (on business not pleasure!) so I'll put something together when I get back and get back to you)
Mogul
Stephanie Plum said:
mogul said:
Just a quick question, can I ask the following questions to be answered prior to interview?
Have you ever taken an employer to a tribunal?
Has an employer ever had reason to take legal action against you?
How many days sick have you had in the last year?
Do you have any illness's or situations outside work that may effect your day to day work or timekeeping?
Have you ever had either a verbal or written warning, if so what for?
I have successfully employed over the years but recently been caught out and I am curious to establish if these questions are fair and within 'employment rules' or even employment law!
Have you ever taken an employer to a tribunal?
Has an employer ever had reason to take legal action against you?
How many days sick have you had in the last year?
Do you have any illness's or situations outside work that may effect your day to day work or timekeeping?
Have you ever had either a verbal or written warning, if so what for?
I have successfully employed over the years but recently been caught out and I am curious to establish if these questions are fair and within 'employment rules' or even employment law!
Qs 1,2,and 4 perfectly reasonable, Q3 could be construed as a bit dodgy - if they don't get the job they could argue in a tribunal that you were biased against them unfairly. Q5 they'll just lie anyway.
And, yes as per the other post the criminal conviction thing should be on the application form or worded in their offer letter so if it turns out they have and lied you can fire their ass without fear of reprisal in court.
Agreed.
Asking such questions is certainly possible, and if worded carefully, most useful.
One would expect the candidate to be open and honest. Of course legally they must be. However, as has been rightly pointed out if they *do* lie it does give an employer an outlet to dismiss with immediate effect without fear of tribunal or having to complete a lengthy and unwanted disciplinary procedure in order to dismiss them.
I would keep the questions so that each has a factual and unequivocal answer, and so that it could not be deemed unfair, and so that it does not put off an otherwise good candidate a couple of lines to explain each answer if they want. For example, their days off work last year may have been 30, but may have been taken to recover from a particular condition which will not affect their future work.
Each of the questions are useful - and each carries equal weight if they are lied about. I doubt that many would lie about their days off sick, disciplinary procedures or reasons for dismissal and quoting the name and address of their previous employer as these could just be checked.
It is also correct that the 'reference' system is not what it used to be. You have to make the request short, but then the previous employer gets a single line to explain any of their answers. I have always filled these out honestly, and where there has been something particularly scathing a have answered in a very short answer and invited the new employer to contact me for further details.
A particular example I can think of a was 'screwed over' by an employee deciding to get a new job and leave with a few days notice (not the 28 needed) 'co-incidentally' on the day his wages cleared to his account, with holiday allowance overaccrued. I never got asked for a reference until about three years later when he must have thought he had got away with it. There were other aspects about him such as the borrowing of large sums of money from other employees and disappearing - sometimes even overnight to start a new job, a new rental contract etc and leaving employers and landlords up the shoot.
Three years later after he had been employed for 6 months I had a phone call from the HR department asking me for the further details I offered before they gave him the job. They told me that a couple of employees had lent him some money and were worried that they may not get it back. From a couple of comments 'off the record' I was told that at least two employees in the new company he was working for had avoided being duped for any more money than they had already.
I think the moral is this: Ask questions. If you have any doubts, follow them up formally with a reference, or indeed informally if only to check up on the basic issues. If the previously 'squeaky clean' candidate turns out that had been consistantly disciplined to final warning stage before jumping ship to escape dismissal then you will have saved yourself a lot of hassle!
With respect to references.
We, for example, will not always provide a reference. Or even a verbal description of our experiences with a particular ex-employee. We say "it is not our policy" etc.
Potential future employers should read into that what they will. i.e. BARGEPOLE!
On other occasions I have been happy to write references that glow. So if you get no response when following up references - I'm afraid it could well mean they simply don't want to give one.
We, for example, will not always provide a reference. Or even a verbal description of our experiences with a particular ex-employee. We say "it is not our policy" etc.
Potential future employers should read into that what they will. i.e. BARGEPOLE!
On other occasions I have been happy to write references that glow. So if you get no response when following up references - I'm afraid it could well mean they simply don't want to give one.
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