lying about sickness on a job application.... help

leedsfan_3

What you could do for your own peace of mind is contact the HR of your former employer and ask them what information they provide when they send out a reference.

sqyiggle

The info I have from them says they will contact both referees sending them a copy of the job description and asking for their opinion on my ability to do the job aswell as specific information regarding attendence and disciplinary matters. I can only guess they would be asked the same standard questions I was via a form i.e how many days sick and over how many periods.

The company I work for is run from a really small office and by asking my manager what she might say on my ref I don't want her to feel like i'm asking her to be generous with the truth or compromising her integrity.

leedsfan_3

Okay another misconception, your former manager can not comment on your character, integrity or otherwise, in your reference. So there is no harm in doing so and besides, just say something like for future reference obviously I don't want to go into detail about my absence, so could you tell me what information you provide when a reference request is made.

terra_ferma

leedsfan wrote: »

Sorry as someone that has worked in HR i can tell you with certainty that a prospective employer can ask whichever specific questions they like but as the referee, there is no obligation on their part to answer. Most companies don't want to do that because then it could get messy, mistakes might have been made and what's more it's time consuming.

I would not tell them you have made a mistake because it will immediately call into question you prior to them even considering you. They will not ask you about absences in an interview unless you had said you had a long lengthy absence in which case they might then ask.

Maybe a compromise would be to tell them AFTER they've offered a job, if successful?

leedsfan_3

Yeah I think that's probably a good idea, depending on what your former employer says regarding what information they will disclose.

Savvy_Sue

leedsfan wrote: »

Okay another misconception, your former manager can not comment on your character, integrity or otherwise, in your reference.

Really? I thought an employer could say what they liked, as long as they had evidence to support it, eg "Fred was rude and unreliable" would need to be backed up by warnings on Fred's file!

Zazen999

sqyiggle wrote: »

The info I have from them says they will contact both referees sending them a copy of the job description and asking for their opinion on my ability to do the job aswell as specific information regarding attendance and disciplinary matters. I can only guess they would be asked the same standard questions I was via a form i.e how many days sick and over how many periods.

How strange. It's not up to ex employers to made comments like this on a reference...that is the point of interviewing and giving you a probationary period.

The attendance and disciplinary - is a different matter and is totally objective.

DaisyFlower

I'd be honest at the interview. I would be annoyed if, after going through all the interviews, reading cvs etc, that only at offer stage was the person truthful re sickness.

Far better to say you made a mistake at interview stage and get it out in the open otherwise the employer may wonder what else could be wrong on the cv.

elsien

Some companies do specifically ask how many days off sick you've had. And even if they don't, the current employer sometimes puts the information in the reference anyway.
We don't normally ask as we do a medical assessment. However on a recent reference the employer stated in the "reliability" bit that the employee had been off on long term sick since June. Which was interesting as on her medical assessment form she stated 3 days off in 3 years - I think she was banking on it not coming up on the reference.
Needless to say the job offer was withdrawn due to the dishonest information given.
I'd tell them sooner rather than later.

leedsfan_3

Which is why I would clarify the type of reference your former employer gives.