Advice needed

gemmam_4

I was fired from my last employer for taking time off after a family bereavement (the "offical" reason they gave was "ecomonic downturn"), because of this I wish not to use them as a reference. I have other people I could use instead so this is not the problem, but what reason should I use for not using them? If I don't put a reason it may look like theres something iffy going on, however I can't tell the truth as I've been told it's not good to mention your previous employer in a bad light.

getmore4less

If you were not there for very long that is a usefull reason.

if you were there for more than 2 years you probably should have got redundancy.

Oldernotwiser

If you're asked for a reference from your most recent employer then you have to give them, after all that's the whole point of references!

Voyager2002

Try asking your old employer! After all, they said 'on the record' that you were made redundant because of the economic downturn, so they are likely to give references to confirm this.

fengirl_2

The worse they could do would be to merely confirm the dates you were employed. Taking time off for a family berevement is hardly a hanging offence.

Oldernotwiser

fengirl wrote: »

The worse they could do would be to merely confirm the dates you were employed. Taking time off for a family berevement is hardly a hanging offence.

Rather depends on how long you took off!

gemmam_4

Actually it was only 3 days I was off.

unluckylassie

I think its actually not the done thing for past employers to give bad references. They simply chose not to provide one in the first place, leaving you then free to provide the real reason.
Good Luck to you though and sorry for your loss.