Job lose over a false Reference ?

vale46_2

This for my Daughter Bad reference ?

She works looking after disabled people

She recently got a new job in September 2008 after her old employer tried moving her onto another location that wasn't suitable.
let me explain

With her old employer she worked looking after some residents that needed 24/7 care

she is a good time keeper and worker and did all asked of her for 3 yrs.etc did all courses
got good comments of management.passed all courses involved in her training things like first aid
NVQ modules etc (she not here to ask while i write this about all her courses she did) but did very well in those 3 yrs

then last summer she had 2 weeks off work with a chest infection.so her employer said it was because
she has no spleen and she got the infection off the residents she worked with
(they known about her spleen being removed from day 1 with no problem with it)

she travels on 2 buses to get to where she worked at the time its about 10 miles
so they wanted to transfer her to another site around 20 miles away all travelling on public transport
making her daily travel around around 30 miles there 30 miles back round trip approx 60 miles all
on public transport but now needs 4 buses to do it.

working in a same environment with residents that still need 24/7 care

so we rang acas we were told to write a letter of grievance which we did and arrange a meeting
with her employer because they couldn't do this and there was nothing in her contract that said they could
her contract stated where she was working was her place of employment then she joined unison

and they said her employer was wrong and this was not within reasonable travelling distance
but couldn't represent her fully as a new member or get legal team involved until she been a member 13 weeks

if i remember correct.but they did represent her at this meeting and by this time daughter was fit for work
so told employer I'm fit for work I've got sick note off doctor to return to work they said no she suspended
on medical grounds.at this meeting they were adamant she was moving and they were writing to her doctor etc

in this time she was off work and on pay they got info off her doctor and her consultant who said she was fit to do her job
and ok to work in that type of job she did.

during this time she was totally down and found a new job that she is working in now and gave notice to her old employer who
said ok and she was still suspended on medical grounds but would take her notice this was last august and she started her
new job in September 2008.

since then she has asked for a reference of her old employer and her new employer has written to them
too for a reference they all had no response

Her new job involved a probation period of 3 months which she passed in December 2008 she doing well in this new job

now yesterday she gets called into a meeting with her new employer who say shes back on a probation period for 4 weeks
then will get 1 weeks notice and leave this new job she asked why

they said they finally got a reference off her old employer and its the worst they have ever seen

they have said a few things about whats on this reference to her and its not correct
but in this job shes doing fine no complaints since she started.SHES GUTTED HEART BROKEN

been on phone unison/acas seem over run with stuff and not talked to anyone yet all peeps busy or cant get through

IS THERE ANYTHING WE CAN DO ?

i cant see any thing being done over this 1 job lose shes totally bewildered with it all
Thanks

briona

vale46 wrote: »

Her new job involved a probation period of 3 months which she passed in December 2008 she doing well in this new job
now yesterday she gets called into a meeting with her new employer who say shes back on a probation period for 4 weeks
then will get 1 weeks notice and leave this new job she asked why
they said they finally got a reference off her old employer and its the worst they have ever seen. they have said a few things about whats on this reference to her and its not correct. IS THERE ANYTHING WE CAN DO ?

If someone has successfully passed a probationary period, they cannot later be put back on probation. You can extend a probationary period PRIOR to it being passed but I don't think you can AFTER it has been passed.

Also with regards to the reference, an employer cannot willfully jeopardise someone's chances in a new job by simply slagging them off. HOWEVER as a reference is intended to be factual, if the person was always late for example, an employer is within his/her rights to state on a reference that the candidate was a poor time-keeper. Is there any way that your daughter can find out exactly what was written in the reference?

I know you say you've tried to phone them already but I would definitely contact ACAS and get proper advice.

nic_santorini

briona has made very valid points. Make sure you get a copy of the reference. This clearly is not right and is the stuff tribunals are made out of. Also make sure your daughter has all her good work reports and other positive remarks at the old job to counteract this allegation. Keep fighting

paulmx3

i was under the impression you cannot give a "bad" referance.

you need to get a copy of it as you may have many avenues to follow such as libel,possibly constructive dissmissal from old employer (you would have to check timescales on this with acas as there are fairly strict guidelines and procedures to follow,timescales etc)

N1AK

vale46: You should definitely get hold of a copy of the reference. As it is information about the individual your daughter has the right to request a copy under the terms of the data protection act, so if they won't just give it to you freely push them.

It may seem uncaring given the situation you are in but I advise you to format your posts in a much clearer way. I'm sure I'm not the only person who has given up trying to read it, which means there you could well of missed out on advice purely because you have made it difficult for people to read.

SomeBozo

paulmx3 wrote: »

i was under the impression you cannot give a "bad" referance.

Thats incorrect.

You can give a good, bad, indifferent reference as long as its fact.

So you can't say "I think Mr X is a bad employee".

You can say "Mr X was diciplined for stealing pens".

The first is an opinon, the second is fact.`

Bozo

Naranji

N1AK wrote: »

It may seem uncaring given the situation you are in but I advise you to format your posts in a much clearer way. I'm sure I'm not the only person who has given up trying to read it, which means there you could well of missed out on advice purely because you have made it difficult for people to read.

I have to agree here, I have found it almost imposible to read, have givne up now so really don't know what the facts are

But good luck in whatever the problem is :beer:

greenwheels007

Fopund it hard to read too..
If the job was given subject to references then there may be no argument

A'negative' reference can be given provided it contains evidence and fact.

What does your daughter say about her previous job, what did she do that may be portrayed badly?

ghostmadlittlemiss

Please don't take this the wrong way as I don't mean it offensively, but would it be fair to say that English is not your first language? The structure and grammar of your post would seem to suggest this. Check with Unison as if you choose to take this to court, you might be entitled to a interpreter. If the things that were said about your daughter in her reference were untrue then you definitely have a case but you need a copy of the reference first to prove it.
Kayleigh

PasturesNew

I've gone through and tried to tidy it up a bit. I believe the OP was saying/asking:

The OP's daughter had a job caring for disabled people; some needed 24/7 care. She worked for this employer for 3 years, during which time she attended and passed courses regarding her employment and obtained some NVQs (daughter not present with OP to list which ones).

She has worked hard and is a good timekeeper.

In the summer of 2008, she had 2 weeks off sick with a chest infection. Her employer said it was because she has no spleen, this medical situation has been known about from the start of her employment. The employer suggested that she'd caught an infection from the people she was caring for.

To get to work she was travelling 10 miles each way, which needed her to take 2 buses each way.

Her employer then wanted to transfer her to another site, 20 miles away. She doesn't drive so this would mean a round trip of 60 miles per day, using 4 buses per day. The work itself did not change, just her location.

ACAS told the OP's daughter to write a Letter of Grievance. They did this. ACAS told the OP's daughter to arrange a meeting with her employer. ACAS were unable to do this directly as her contract did not allow them to.

The OP's daughter then joined Unison, who were unable to take up her case until she had been with them 13 weeks. Unison did, however, advise that the employer was in the wrong as the new location was not within a reasonable travelling distance.

The OP's daughter then became well enough to return to work, but the employer suspended her on medical grounds. Her employer had been in contact with her Doctor and Consultant, who both agreed that the OP's daughter was fit to return to her duties. There were no restrictions on the type of work she was doing. There was a meeting held and the employer was adamant that the OP's daughter's place of work was the further/new location.

While all this was going on, the OP's daughter found herself a new job. She gave notice to her old employer. Her old employer said they would accept her notice, but she was still suspended on medical grounds.

In September 2008, she started her new job, with a probationary period of 3 months. This 3 months passed in December and they continued to employ her.

Yesterday her new employer called her into a meeting and declared that she is back on a new probationary period for 4 weeks, then will get 1 week's notice to leave the new job. Her new employer said this was because her old employer had given her a bad reference (the worst they have ever seen). The reference was incorrect.

There have been no problems or complaints in her new job.

The OP has tried to contact Unison/ACAS, but they are too busy at present to have been able to speak with the OP/her daughter about this new state of affairs. Either everybody is busy, or the OP cannot get through as the line is busy.

In the meantime, can anybody help or assist with how to proceed and what the OP/daughter can do.


(That's what I made of it anyway, hope it helps)

GlasweJen

I'd ask to see the reference in the first instance and if it's malicious call ACAS to see about taking this further.