Going to Employment Tribunal- can it backfire on you ?

mestalla_2

Emmzi wrote: »

I never hand in my notice unless I have an unconditional offer.

Easy to do if you are in employment, but if you are in any way desperate you will take conditional offer.

Kajimba

Googlewhacker wrote: »

To be fair I wouldn't employ without referances anyway and it is a bit harsh but as mentioned when employing its about minimising the risk to the company and it depends on what the job is, if it is NMW or just above then you can be more harsh as there are plenty of other people to take their place, if it is a high paid job then to be fair you would be silly to hire someone without referances.

Congratulations on providing a reason why someone could be on JSA long term through no fault of their own.;)

What if the previous company goes insolvent?
Oh, & if a company treats employees as expendable robots just because a job is minimum wage, it will harm the company in the long term. Don't expect these employees to show any loyalty, dedication or initiative, it would n't be worth their while to do so.

Emmzi

mestalla wrote: »

Easy to do if you are in employment, but if you are in any way desperate you will take conditional offer.

totally confused as if unemployed there is notice to hand in

bargainbetty

To be honest, most references these days are standardised and neutral, to avoid the rules about subjectivity or personal interpretation. I have an an excellent reference from a previous employer that I provide at application stage, and I am often asked if I took them to a tribunal as getting specific refs these days is often part of a compromise agreement.

To fire someone because a previous company do not provide a reference seems very harsh. Would you take the time to ask them about it first?

With regard to the original question - you would be truly amazed at how many people take legal action of some type against their employers, and receive settlements or compromise agreements rather than have it go to tribunal. It does the employer damage too, remember?

Googlewhacker

Kajimba wrote: »

Congratulations on providing a reason why someone could be on JSA long term through no fault of their own.;)

What if the previous company goes insolvent?
Oh, & if a company treats employees as expendable robots just because a job is minimum wage, it will harm the company in the long term. Don't expect these employees to show any loyalty, dedication or initiative, it would n't be worth their while to do so.

Ok overly broad, you make a fair point, if the persons previous company has gone bust then obviously this is a fair reason to not have a referance. (I would check that the company has actually gone bust though!)

And whilst I agree with your second point I can point you to several companies that do treat their staff as robots and accept that there won't be loyalty.

Kajimba

Googlewhacker wrote: »

Ok overly broad, you make a fair point, if the persons previous company has gone bust then obviously this is a fair reason to not have a referance. (I would check that the company has actually gone bust though!)

And whilst I agree with your second point I can point you to several companies that do treat their staff as robots and accept that there won't be loyalty.

Well they do say, every little helps

Well in my case, it went bust, then 6 stores were bought by a competitior: but I can't get a reference from that competitor as far as I know. Luckily, it was a very public insolvency, with newspaper articles, face book groups, legal action , etc. Plus there's not really any openings in that sector of retail anymore: it's mostly online. I'd say anyone on here can work out who it was from that information alone. I've rebuilt my work history from then anyway.

Googlewhacker

Kajimba wrote: »

Well they do say, every little helps

Well in my case, it went bust, then 6 stores were bought by a competitior: but I can't get a reference from that competitor as far as I know. Luckily, it was a very public insolvency, with newspaper articles, face book groups, legal action , etc. Plus there's not really any openings in that sector of retail anymore: it's mostly online. I'd say anyone on here can work out who it was from that information alone. I've rebuilt my work history from then anyway.

I puzzling now who you worked for lol! As for your first bit that company was one I was thinking of surprisingly

Nassy

I would say that if you really really believe that you were unfairly treated by a former employer and are up for the fight, then the matter of reference should not necessarily put you off. That is because if you decide to drop the claim - just because of the fact you are scared of a bad reference - then you could regret it because you only get 1 window of opportunity.

People talk a lot about the importance of a reference but with my experience with agencies, it is exaggerated and if a Company like someone based on an interview and want to hire that person they are unlikely to want to suddenly mistrust an earlier judgement based on a missing reference. Don't forget recruiting people is painful for employers too as they also don't love dealing with agencies!

Also someone I know had to fill in a reference for a former employee and it seems it was just a form asking if the person worked there etc.. There is no opportunity for the former employer to say what they really thought of an employee and for this reason they have lost some of there value.

Just my two pennies based on my own experiences. It also probably does depend a bit of what you do for a living.

Kajimba

Googlewhacker wrote: »

I puzzling now who you worked for lol! As for your first bit that company was one I was thinking of surprisingly

Well I live near one & although the service is appalling, I've seen how they get treated so I know there's little point in a complaint.
Big clue: the competitor recently announced the closure of sixty stores... As I can't have you losing sleep over it, lol

Googlewhacker

Kajimba wrote: »

Well I live near one & although the service is appalling, I've seen how they get treated so I know there's little point in a complaint.
Big clue: the competitor recently announced the closure of sixty stores... As I can't have you losing sleep over it, lol

I'll guess at Zavvi....