Job offered but then withdrawn due to references

daveboy

I need some advice as to whether there is a legal case in the following situation.

My wife applied for and was told verbally over the phone that she had got a job with a sheltered housing company just before Christmas. She duly handed in her notice of four weeks at this time.

She did not receive anything until a letter dated 5th January, in which it was detailed about references and a CRB check. She obviously passed the CRB check, but it wasn't until today, four days or so before she finished the job at which she gave notice, that the sheltered housing company phoned her and said the references were not satisfactory.

Moreover, she has contacted the two people who gave references and both have told her that they have not said anything negative. May I add that we are certain these two people would not lie, she knows them very well and had a good working relationship with them.

It also seems that the job may have been filled internally as she is still in touch with her previous managers, and they have picked up information seperately (not knowing my wife had applied for a job there) that someone had been promoted.

This has now left my wife in a position where she will have no employment by the end of next week.

I strongly suspect that the sheltered housing company are pulling a fast one here as their only way out and need to know whether there is any legal basis I can use. I am willing to use the Citizens Advice Bureau if that is what people suggest....I am just of the feeling that legally there is a case here and hope someone with proper sound knowledge of the law can assist.

It would be greatly appreciated.

Mips

That's a really shocking and 5hitty thing to do to someone

Errata

If your wife knows the referees well she chould ask them for a copy of the references they sent then she can see if there is anything that appears unsatisfactory.

Valli

Personally I would suggest she gets copies of the references, and takes them, and the offer os job letter, to the CAB or a Law centre.
I would also ask them to put the reason for refusing to employ her in a letter too.

Anihilator

Sorry but you should never resign without a solid start date and confirmed references.
The company can do this.

Fly_Baby

Anihilator wrote: »

Sorry but you should never resign without a solid start date and confirmed references.
The company can do this.

They are tricky still, aren't they?

They phrase their offer let as "subject to references" and yet, in the dicussion with the potential line manager, the latter wants to know exactly when you can start and it's usually as soon as possible - so you are supposed to give you notice as soon as you get the offer.

OP, any chance your wife could ask if she could stay at her current job? They are unlikely to have recruited someone in 3 weeks. And since of her referees had to be her existing employer they would know exactly what happened with her new application.

Uncertain

This is a difficult one and, on the face of it, sounds highly unethical.

Sadly it may not be possible to do very much. Whether or not a reference is satisfactory is very much in the eye of the reader. Where does average stop and good start for example?

Moving jobs has an element of risk. Apart from out and out discrimination the new firm can dispense with your services without reason during the first year. Even if you somehow managed to force this issue it may not help much.

You might be able to get hold of the references but they do have some protection from Subject Access Requests. Maybe they are not as good as you would like to think? Again you would need to show that something in the reference was untrue (not just a matter of opinion) to get very far.

rupee99

On the face of it there is no case against the prospective employer. They made a conditional offer (subject to references) that they claim are not satisfactory.

These are not matters covered by employment law, but ordinary contract law. You would have to prove that their subjective opinion on the quality of the references was wrong or perverse to establish a case. If you cannot negotiate anything with the Sheltered Housing Association your only recourse would be to take them to court.

desperado2

you shoud never resign until you have the actual unconditional "in writing" offer of employment.

Having said that, your wife should request a copy of the unsatisfactory reference(s) as they were prejudicial to her employment she has a right to know what was said. Note that by "references" they may include work history - days off sick which were uncertificated etc.. and it may be a simple numbers policy on things like that.

It makes sense to pursue this as a future application elsewhere may be problematical unless you identify whay this has happened.

As the Company is a sheltered housing Co, they are possibly operating on charitable status and if that is the case, you can pursue a grievance to the Trustees if the matter is not suitably resolved.

As suggested, I think your wife should contact her current employers, and see if they would allow her to rescind the notice.

BligBlag

How annoying for your wife, but this is a prime example OP of why you should never hand your notice in until you have a formal written job offer from your new Employers.

I doubt there's much you can do to be honest, and the 2nd/3rd/4th-hand information you're hearing that they've recruited in-house instead is not really relevent.

As Uncertain states, within the 1st year of any Employment your Employers can get rid of you without so much as an explanation, so bearing in mind your wife only got as far as interview stage and didn't start working for them, I'm not sure what legal action you think you can take.

Just because someone's been rejected on the basis of a reference doesn't mean anything unlawful was in the reference, it could come down to something as simple as the amount of time off sick/late.

I think your wife should ask to retract her notice from her current Employers and continue looking for a new job (if that's what she wants). Next time she's offered a job don't jump the gun and hand notice in, wait until the offer is confirmed in writing.

Good luck to you both.

rupee99

desperado2 wrote: »

......................
As the Company is a sheltered housing Co, they are possibly operating on charitable status and if that is the case, you can pursue a grievance to the Trustees if the matter is not suitably resolved.
............

The OP's wife cannot pursue a "grievance" within the meaning of employment law because no employer/employee relationship existed between her and the Sheltered Housing Association.

Her remedy, if no agreement can be reached, is to bring a court action, although I would have to say that her chances of success are quite remote and it is likely to be quite expensive.