Failed Experian background check, company refuse to tell me why

Undervalued

julianrob77 said:

I did realise that I had omitted a 2 week job from my CV, and i have since told them this was actually taken off my CV during a review with a professional CV writing service, which they are happy to confirm. I did not intent to mislead them deliberatley- if, that is the reason why they have said that I failed this check. But they are stonewalling. I was in fact dismissed from this role, needing to attend a pre booked medical appointment, and they refused to let me attend, forcing me to take a sick day, at which point they terminated me on the spot. thats pretty illegal, was a horrific experience and its understandable why I would not want to add it to my CV. but I didnt mean to mislead anyone on purpose.

It is not "pretty illegal" in fact it is not even slightly illegal!

Except, possibly, as a "reasonable adjustment" for a disabled employee, technically there is no obligation to allow time off for routine "pre booked" medical appointments. Whilst many employers allow great flexibility in this area that doesn't mean they have to. Lying to your employer, claiming to be sick when that is not true, is never a good idea.

Sorry but whilst you may think it is "understandable" that you have further lied (by omission) to your potential employer, they clearly don't see it that way.

You say "I didn't mean to mislead anyone on purpose" but that is exactly what you have done.

oldernonethewiser

You find yourself in an unfortunate position.  

Obviously not knowing the reason for the rejection is annoying and confusing and all you can do is ask but of course the company don't need to respond. 

Being dismissed by a previous employer is totally different from resigning and nothing you have written suggests any illegality on their part. 

Hope you get something positive sorted. 

Wonka_2

So much in here to unpick but firstly @julianrob77 people highlighting reality is not attacking/being disrespectful to you - actions you have taken/choices you've made have consequences and, however justifiable in your mind, are potentially the root of the current situation.

Relevant questions that might have a bearing on your case

1) What sector is the employment in - are there likely to be specific, addition 'honesty' requirements e.g. financial sector, access to personal data etc
2) What was the 'spent' driving conviction and is it genuinely 'spent' or still showing up

Companies don't take recruitment lightly - especially at senior levels - it costs big money and the risks, if getting it wrong, can be significant on a companies P&L. On this basis there are often levels of checks above the interviewer/recruiter over which they have no influence, irrespective of their preferences/promises they have made.

As someone who fully understands your position I'd urge you to look for someone with specialisms in your area that can help you construct your CV, check all your background data/records, and help you to construct answers to the questions that will invariably get asked during the process/interviews. A search on autism/ND forums/FB pages should bring up examples of people who can help.

julianrob77

Wonka_2 said:

So much in here to unpick but firstly @julianrob77 people highlighting reality is not attacking/being disrespectful to you - actions you have taken/choices you've made have consequences and, however justifiable in your mind, are potentially the root of the current situation.

Relevant questions that might have a bearing on your case

1) What sector is the employment in - are there likely to be specific, addition 'honesty' requirements e.g. financial sector, access to personal data etc
2) What was the 'spent' driving conviction and is it genuinely 'spent' or still showing up

Companies don't take recruitment lightly - especially at senior levels - it costs big money and the risks, if getting it wrong, can be significant on a companies P&L. On this basis there are often levels of checks above the interviewer/recruiter over which they have no influence, irrespective of their preferences/promises they have made.

As someone who fully understands your position I'd urge you to look for someone with specialisms in your area that can help you construct your CV, check all your background data/records, and help you to construct answers to the questions that will invariably get asked during the process/interviews. A search on autism/ND forums/FB pages should bring up examples of people who can help.

Hi, thanks for this.

I want to just be final and clear since people are making a lot of assumptions based on what I've said. 

I wasn't simply saying a past employer acted illegally, just lightly. The whole thing was looked over in full by an employment solicitor. The fact remains I was forced to disclose my disability by them. That's strike one. Second, refusing leave has to have some contractual basis, but also, they knew I was unwell at the time and trying to work.
I wasn't lying about that, I was trying to use my leave to get treatment for a mental health problem. I was unwell indeed, it wasn't a lie at all, I handled it very badly I admit that totally.
 I was under a section 21 notice and desperately trying to avoid being made homeless from a no fault eviction.

 I was already on a knife edge from day one. There was a bit more to it, I told them my situation even tried to delay my start date. I should not have worked at all but I was in a desperate position. If anyone here has found themselves mentally unwell and on benefits you can understand this.

 Anyone else sorry it's not something you can really comment on. I don't think you can understand the panic and hardship that can happen. This was triggered by something outside of work due to my housing situation. I should point out here I work remotely, in a very big way my home, although rented, is also my workplace, so it does involve the employer I think.

There is a more to it than I've said. I wouldn't just accuse people of breaking the law, without it being properly looked at, Including how I was terminated. That email in and of itself showed serious legal failing. However, we ended things as amicably as we could on both sides. There was no bad intent on my part however this was not a flexible position in any way, and regardless of anything else yes I broke their rules. I have had to admit that and try to improve my situation but I make no apology for being unwell due to issues outside my control. The UK is fast becoming quite fascist in this respect actually. Some of this attitude is seeping through on here I think.

Be that as it may, the whole.point here is that I'm guessing this is the reason the new employer has withdrawn. It's a very solid guess though I think! However not being told is mentally damaging isn't it....

Regardless of anything else I did omit it. I wasn't trying to lie about anything. Because of the complexity behind what was happening too it's perfectly natural to want to try and move on and not remember a hellish situation, my mistake, as I said was taking up the job in the first place, but I was desperate.

 People here seem to be hell bent on forcing me to somehow admit that's all my doing and so on. I clearly said I had a CV review, it got removed then. When I did my Experian form, I copied from my CV. Now that ultimately is my doing and I can't undo that, I didn't fully realise the implications of leaving this off. I genuinely forgot about it.

What is clear is that I think I am not suitable for any senior position. In fact, why bother at all, perhaps I shouldn't work and simply give up. If a bad experience can be enough for any employer to just say no, they are by default judging me on the worst possible issue, rather than seeing the bigger picture, even asking me about it. As I said before people can get terminated for all sorts of reasons. Not asking me to correct my record via a query tells me they have to be certain about what decision they have made and the information they have.

Point well taken on the investment side of it. I understand that. Maybe they are right.

But again, we are all speculating this is why they did this.

I have requested my data from Experian and from them. Perhaps that will explain it.thanks.

J

breaking_free

julianrob77 said: 

The UK is fast becoming quite fascist in this respect actually. Some of this attitude is seeping through on here I think. 

Please do not accuse your fellow posters of having facist attitudes - that is extremely insulting. I've re-read your comment several times and see no other way to interpret what you wrote.

Edited to add: Just seen your new post below mine. Well done on getting some clarification from the company on what the points of failure were. Now you have some closure.

julianrob77

Important update for anyone else going through this process. The company sent me the report Experian sent to them.

firstly- the job I did not declare did not appear in the report or background check. I have had this completely wrong the whole time!

Second. the report comprises several sections but the main ones are indeed about employment history. All my sections have failed. This is it seems due to minor date discrepancies or information not provided fully, and in one case a referee got my job title wrong (I think he was trying to be helpful!). All my past jobs and even my claim for universal credit is showing up in the red.

Third. There is Incorrect data on my credit file which is already in dispute. However this shows up as adverse and probably would anyway.

The director made it absolutely clear he did not contact any of my references directly.

He didnt even know about this other job, in fact me telling him about it after he made the decision was therefore totally unnecessary. 

So, Experian ONLY check the jobs you declare. They do not dig into your HMRC records to match things up, they only go off what information you and any other third parties supply, i.e police for the DBs check etc.

What is clear is these minor discrepancies appearing are causing me to 'fail' sections (there are 8 in total, but that will vary depending on how many jobs you declare to them) can add up and thus I have not passed.

The company said basically becuase they contract to NHS and government etc they have strict thresholds about these things. Basically in this case I've failed some sort of threshold score they make internally.

 Nothing I did wrong at all, it seems to be just ridiculous stuff, reason for leaving being different when one of them put n/a as it was a fixed term contract, but I put down, end of fixed term contract. How absolutely ridiculous!! Basically this report paints a picture of incorrectly information when it's actually not.

Computer says no basically. We live in a dystopian nightmare.

Of course huge disclaimer on this that they can't be held responsible blah blah. Yeah right. Nice one.

Do not trust Experian. 

DullGreyGuy

Working in FS these types of background checks are routine and as a contractor that therefore changes jobs fairly often its a bit of a bore.

The issue is less that it wasnt on your CV, though that is likely to have been questioned when compared to the Employment History checks but that you also chose to leave if off the form for employment history. For some of us its normal for these two forms not to match in a certain way... I will have on my CV that my client was ABC Insurance but for employment screening that becomes XYZ Recruitment Agency as its they not the ultimate client that gives references for contractors. 

Its worth checking your credit files with the three main agencies anyway, just to make sure theres nothing on them that you arent aware of but outside of that its chalking it up to experience and remembering in the future that being creative with your CV is one thing but a formal employment history check is a different matter. 

Marcon

julianrob77 said:

firstly- the job I did not declare did not appear in the report or background check. I have had this completely wrong the whole time!

Second. the report comprises several sections but the main ones are indeed about employment history. All my sections have failed. This is it seems due to minor date discrepancies or information not provided fully, and in one case a referee got my job title wrong (I think he was trying to be helpful!). All my past jobs and even my claim for universal credit is showing up in the red.

Third. There is Incorrect data on my credit file which is already in dispute. However this shows up as adverse and probably would anyway.

The director made it absolutely clear he did not contact any of my references directly.

The company has a background check which shows you have failed the check in every section. On that basis, the company couldn't justify employing you, especially if they deal with sensitive/public sector clients.

But....given how keen the company was to employ you, I'd go back to them and provide a list of the discrepancies highlighted in the background check and explain them - but BRIEFLY. A simple table would do the trick. What do you have to lose except a bit of time? Fingers crossed it might work for you.

julianrob77

Marcon said:

julianrob77 said:

firstly- the job I did not declare did not appear in the report or background check. I have had this completely wrong the whole time!

Second. the report comprises several sections but the main ones are indeed about employment history. All my sections have failed. This is it seems due to minor date discrepancies or information not provided fully, and in one case a referee got my job title wrong (I think he was trying to be helpful!). All my past jobs and even my claim for universal credit is showing up in the red.

Third. There is Incorrect data on my credit file which is already in dispute. However this shows up as adverse and probably would anyway.

The director made it absolutely clear he did not contact any of my references directly.

The company has a background check which shows you have failed the check in every section. On that basis, the company couldn't justify employing you, especially if they deal with sensitive/public sector clients.

But....given how keen the company was to employ you, I'd go back to them and provide a list of the discrepancies highlighted in the background check and explain them - but BRIEFLY. A simple table would do the trick. What do you have to lose except a bit of time? Fingers crossed it might work for you.

HI there,

I have tried this approach. Its sadly somehow final, despite these errors. Which would have been good to know before I did this, a one shot approach, i would have contacted all my past jobs to be sure they said exactly the same thing that I did.

It appears in some form they are bound by this report, despite it comtaining such stupid mistakes.

Ok so another example- it said that my reason for leaving was different for a fixed term contract. I put down 'end of contract', the referee said 'N/a'- well, both are right really, I didnt leave, it just was end of contract. Failing me on that is just crazy and is mis representing me on purpose.

The point here is this system is looking for imprecise answers and then saying that becuase of that, my history is not accurate. that is terrible, and unscientific, no data procoessing should ever be done on this basis.

Also to answer some other issues raised in this thread.

In fact, everyone has the right with withold a past job unless doing so would constitute fraud. You are free to omit whatever you like from your work history, providing of course you dont then make up something else. In my case, it was just a 2 week gap, I didnt fill it with something else. So, regardless of circumstances (and being terminated, and settling out of court over this), people do have rights to some privacy.

Undervalued

julianrob77 said:

Marcon said:

julianrob77 said:

firstly- the job I did not declare did not appear in the report or background check. I have had this completely wrong the whole time!

Second. the report comprises several sections but the main ones are indeed about employment history. All my sections have failed. This is it seems due to minor date discrepancies or information not provided fully, and in one case a referee got my job title wrong (I think he was trying to be helpful!). All my past jobs and even my claim for universal credit is showing up in the red.

Third. There is Incorrect data on my credit file which is already in dispute. However this shows up as adverse and probably would anyway.

The director made it absolutely clear he did not contact any of my references directly.

The company has a background check which shows you have failed the check in every section. On that basis, the company couldn't justify employing you, especially if they deal with sensitive/public sector clients.

But....given how keen the company was to employ you, I'd go back to them and provide a list of the discrepancies highlighted in the background check and explain them - but BRIEFLY. A simple table would do the trick. What do you have to lose except a bit of time? Fingers crossed it might work for you.

HI there,

I have tried this approach. Its sadly somehow final, despite these errors. Which would have been good to know before I did this, a one shot approach, i would have contacted all my past jobs to be sure they said exactly the same thing that I did.

It appears in some form they are bound by this report, despite it comtaining such stupid mistakes.

Ok so another example- it said that my reason for leaving was different for a fixed term contract. I put down 'end of contract', the referee said 'N/a'- well, both are right really, I didnt leave, it just was end of contract. Failing me on that is just crazy and is mis representing me on purpose.

The point here is this system is looking for imprecise answers and then saying that becuase of that, my history is not accurate. that is terrible, and unscientific, no data procoessing should ever be done on this basis.

Also to answer some other issues raised in this thread.

In fact, everyone has the right with withold a past job unless doing so would constitute fraud. You are free to omit whatever you like from your work history, providing of course you dont then make up something else. In my case, it was just a 2 week gap, I didnt fill it with something else. So, regardless of circumstances (and being terminated, and settling out of court over this), people do have rights to some privacy.

No you are not, if the intention is to mislead by hiding something that is "inconvenient".

If an application form asks you to list all previous employment then deliberately missing something out is dishonest. On a CV it is a little more complicated. If the CV is clearly only the main points / highlights of your career to date then it may be argued that missing something minor out is acceptable. However if the CV gives the impression of being complete, but deliberately omits anything difficult, then that too is an attempt to mislead.

Ultimately, with very few legal exceptions, a prospective employer can conduct what checks they like and make whatever judgements they please from the results. As long as they don't unlawfully discriminate on the handful of protected grounds (race, gender etc) they are free to employ, or not employ, who they choose.