employer not allowing me to go for interviews

bluenoseam

Bear in mind as well that if you "pull a sickie" to attend the interview & you are successful, you could find yourself in a position which will cause you huge problems. Your present employer could well classify that as gross misconduct as a result of you lying to them & start disciplinary proceedings. At the end of that they could sack you, which might not seem all that bad, but they can then inform Bank of Ireland that you were sacked for gross misconduct for dishonesty.

That in turn would be severely looked on by Bank of Ireland, who as a financial institution will be extremely strict on honesty & disciplinary issues.

Think you've got yourself a tricky situation, is there any way you can find cover for the day in question?

Masomnia

They could consider pulling a sickie as gross misconduct because it probably is gross misconduct. Unfortunately as with a lot situations in life you end up screwing yourself over by being honest.

I'd ring up the prospective employer and say you've done all you can to get the time off work from your current employer and could they reschedule? Could you check rotas and see if/when you would be allowed time off where you are?

TELLIT01

I think the only safe way of attending the interview is to get the date or time changed. Your employer has refused to allow you the day off so misconduct is the minimum you would be likely to be hit with if you don't turn up to work that day.

HappyMJ

Do current employers really give good references for employees they still employ that want to leave? If an employee's potential new employer rang me I'd say they were rubbish you're welcome to them. I'd say they took sickies when not being sick and they aren't worth the hassle. I'd say I'd dismiss them but it would cost me too much so if you employ them they'd resign you'd be doing me a favour.

glentoran99

HappyMJ wrote: »

Do current employers really give good references for employees they still employ that want to leave? If an employee's potential new employer rang me I'd say they were rubbish you're welcome to them. I'd say they took sickies when not being sick and they aren't worth the hassle. I'd say I'd dismiss them but it would cost me too much so if you employ them they'd resign you'd be doing me a favour.

Then you would be in a whole heap of trouble


http://etclaims.co.uk/2008/07/bad-references-and-what-you-can-do-about-them/

elsien

chuckley wrote: »

EXACTLY!

If it's longer service, they'll probably bully them to leave now.

GothicStirling wrote: »

Now that you've let them know that you are actively looking for another job, you've put a noose around your neck.

Regular little rays of sunshine, the pair of you.

SeduLOUs

HappyMJ wrote: »

Do current employers really give good references for employees they still employ that want to leave? If an employee's potential new employer rang me I'd say they were rubbish you're welcome to them. I'd say they took sickies when not being sick and they aren't worth the hassle. I'd say I'd dismiss them but it would cost me too much so if you employ them they'd resign you'd be doing me a favour.

And if your employee didn't get the job as a result, not only would they still be working for you, but you'd also probably find yourself in a tribunal being asked to substantiate your claims. Just how exactly do you intend to prove the employee was pulling sickies and not genuinely ill?

The senible thing to do when you actually want to get rid of staff is to give glowing references so that they actually get the job and leave.

HappyMJ

glentoran99 wrote: »

Then you would be in a whole heap of trouble


http://etclaims.co.uk/2008/07/bad-references-and-what-you-can-do-about-them/

Seriously. If an employee took a sickie to attend a job interview I'm not allowed to mention it. It's the truth isn't it...what if I say to employee's potential employers I don't give references for current employees...bye. If they don't get a reference they won't get the job and they won't leave. It's expensive recruiting staff. I wouldn't want them leaving when I need them the most.

glentoran99

HappyMJ wrote: »

Seriously. If an employee took a sickie to attend a job interview I'm not allowed to mention it. It's the truth isn't it...what if I say to employee's potential employers I don't give references for current employees...bye. If they don't get a reference they won't get the job and they won't leave. It's expensive recruiting staff. I wouldn't want them leaving when I need them the most.

Failure to give a reference, without any explanation, can also imply that you have had problems with the employee. This could give rise to claims that you have discriminated against them – on grounds of sex, age, race, disability, sexual orientation or religious belief, for example. They could also argue that you have broken the term of mutual trust and confidence that is implied in every employee’s contract of employment

SeduLOUs

HappyMJ wrote: »

Seriously. If an employee took a sickie to attend a job interview I'm not allowed to mention it. It's the truth isn't it...

You're stating it as fact. What if the staff member mentioned an interview, then changed their mind and decided to be the model employee and rearrange their interview and come to work, but then genuinely fell ill on the morning in question and phoned in sick accordingly.

You're just speculating what happened by assuming they weren't ill and attended an interview elsewhere.

If you sacked someone over something you 'thought' might have happened instead of investigating thoroughly and obtaining actual proof, or gave a reference that resulted in the employee not getting a job when you have no evidence for the claims you are making, then you could end up in very big trouble.

You CAN give bad references. But only if you can back up what you're saying. Most employers realise it's much less hassle all round to just give good or neutral references, and if the staff member is highly problematic take solace in the fact they will soon be somebody else's problem.