Husband made to feel like he's on trial for job application process. Was this normal?

Diplodocusy

My Husband has just withdrawn his application for a very long and tedious application process for the job of *drumroll* Cleaner. And just to note they needed someone Urgently.

He is feeling a bit deflated, embarrassed and frustrated. I want to hear your thoughts on this one. 

He applied for a cleaning job for the fire service in April. I believe it was just cleaning the offices in the HQ. He has had quite a few cleaning jobs over the years. He has also taken a couple of employment breaks. I am the breadwinner and we are fine financially.

One of his employment breaks was to look after his mum who had a fall and we went to go and live with her. The second one was a bit of a mental break and we moved. He wanted to move closer to our new home and we were about to get married so we agreed that he would leave and have a nice few months away from work whilst he tried to find something closer to home and prepare for our big day. 

He already has one job that he found in that period, this would be his second. He basically wanted to bump up his hours and this job seemed perfect for it. He applied, was told it would be a laid back interview and then had an uncomfortable interview with a panel of people. Despite this he got offered the job in early April. In the beginning he went around in circles with them wanting more employment history, he provided it.

The personal reference he used told us they started quizzing them about his breaks in employment. They asked the personal reference to provide the dates he was unemployed and what he was doing during that period. Thankfully this is a close family friend who knew our situation and told them what my husband had already said about these breaks. 

After weeks of waiting to hear from them my Husband was asked to go and do a health check. They drug tested him and wanted to send off a urine sample which they got my husband to do himself. 

After more weeks of waiting we reached June. My husband emailed them asking for an update and they emailed back asking him to give them a bank statements from his later employment break to confirm it? He was feeling frustrated by this point because in this time he could have found another job. He felt like he was on trial, as if they were trying to find something against him.

I would understand it if this job was in a bank, but it is a cleaning role. Is this normal? 

HampshireH

This is my personal opinion but a person's bank statement has nothing to do with the employer new or old.

Why would they need to prove an employment break and what would a bank statement show them.

He has been honest about the breaks it makes no sense.

It's also weird that they asked for details as to what he was doing on those breaks in personal references. 

I am not however in HR. But this seems very intrusive and not proportionate

General_Grant

The potential employer probably believes the bank statements would show that he had not been working elsewhere, had not hidden a job, or two.

They want to check what he was doing, that he wasn't in prison for example.

Diplodocusy

General_Grant said:

The potential employer probably believes the bank statements would show that he had not been working elsewhere, had not hidden a job, or two.

They want to check what he was doing, that he wasn't in prison for example.

Hmm.. That is somewhat understandable. I'm not sure of the logic in it though. Couldn't they just check if he has a criminal record? Also in that case, he could have had a hidden job at any point in the last 5 years and in his last break in employment that they don't seem to care about. I hear what you are saying though. Wouldn't it also be down to HMRC to check for this kind of stuff. His frustration in them making him wait 2 months for the job has sealed his decision to withdraw anyway. 

Marcon

General_Grant said:

The potential employer probably believes the bank statements would show that he had not been working elsewhere, had not hidden a job, or two.

They want to check what he was doing, that he wasn't in prison for example.

..and of course nobody ever has more than one bank account....! I've always been utterly baffled by what people think they can check from a bank statement, unless they are looking for positive confirmation of something (e.g. proof that someone was receiving salary payments, not that they weren't).

Diplodocusy said:

General_Grant said:

The potential employer probably believes the bank statements would show that he had not been working elsewhere, had not hidden a job, or two.

They want to check what he was doing, that he wasn't in prison for example.

Hmm.. That is somewhat understandable. I'm not sure of the logic in it though. Couldn't they just check if he has a criminal record? Also in that case, he could have had a hidden job at any point in the last 5 years and in his last break in employment that they don't seem to care about. I hear what you are saying though. Wouldn't it also be down to HMRC to check for this kind of stuff. His frustration in them making him wait 2 months for the job has sealed his decision to withdraw anyway. 

One of the things a potential employer is looking for is evidence of 'career breaks' being used to cover up health issues, especially mental frailty. HMRC wouldn't be involved. 

Unfortunately any job in the public sector tends to be ridiculously drawn out where someone doesn't have a nice neat cv documenting where exactly they've been employed for the last n years. I'm sure your husband feels it's personal, but it really isn't.

Undervalued

HampshireH said:

This is my personal opinion but a person's bank statement has nothing to do with the employer new or old.

Why would they need to prove an employment break and what would a bank statement show them.

He has been honest about the breaks it makes no sense.

It's also weird that they asked for details as to what he was doing on those breaks in personal references. 

I am not however in HR. But this seems very intrusive and not proportionate

Quite possibly but it is entirely lawful.

With very few exceptions, a potential employer can ask what they like and are entitled to a full and truthful answer. 

There are some questions that it would be unwise to ask which, whilst not unlawful in themselves, could easily be interpreted as suggesting unlawful discrimination.

Malthusian

Diplodocusy said:

He was feeling frustrated by this point because in this time he could have found another job.

But he apparently didn't want to? If you are seriously job-hunting you apply for anything going and only stop once you get a firm offer of employment and a start date. You don't apply for one job, wait for a "no", and only then look for the next one. ("We want to hire you but first you need to answer these questions three" isn't a job offer.) 
If he had done that, the likelihood is that by now a more sensible employer would have offered him a job, and when the fire service came back to him asking for a pee sample and his first born child he could tell them to jog on because he was already taken.
The fact that they only asked him for a bank statement after he chased them suggests that the employer doesn't really give a stuff whether the office gets cleaned or not. (It's not quite messing him around, but it's very close; if you want something from a prospective hire then you ask them for it.)

His frustration in them making him wait 2 months for the job has sealed his decision to withdraw anyway. 

I would view it as a narrow escape. If this is their culture, I wouldn't have much confidence in being paid on time, or being given the equipment to do the job.

DullGreyGuy

HampshireH said:

This is my personal opinion but a person's bank statement has nothing to do with the employer new or old.

Then never try and work in financial services or anything similar as its routinely requested if you have any gap longer than 28 days on your CV

Marcon said:
..and of course nobody ever has more than one bank account....! 

You are asked to provide all bank statements... of cause you could act fraudulently and not provide some but you also consent to your credit records being checked etc and so its not a good start to your job. 

Diplodocusy said:

I would understand it if this job was in a bank, but it is a cleaning role. Is this normal? 

For many companies all employees are treated the same, so if a bank employed its own cleaners (rather than outsourcing) then it'd be a bank job and they'd go through the same process. 

My current client requires all employees to effectively take IQ tests and requires a score of 120 or higher for all roles. The average university student is 110 and so in principle the cleaners could have degrees in Maths, Engineering, Physics or English (which tend to be the higher level subjects) given the do direct employ them. 

I've worked with them previously and was going to bring in someone to do basic admin tasks, they had 10 years experience of doing but they scored 119 so werent allowed to be employed.

In a similar vein a former employer was in a high risk industry and so had exceptionally tight H&S. They equally treated everyone equally so us in the low risk call centre had fairly extreme rules to follow. It was gross misconduct to carry 2 drinks without a drinks tray or to walk up/down stairs without holding the handrail. Yes, people got pulled up for these things and more too!

I think its fairly plausible that the fire service are similar, your life is dependent on your colleague's skill/judgement and so you want to ensure they have a good background of being reliable etc. Again, appreciate he wasnt to be a fire fighter but companies apply the same standards to all.

Diplodocusy said:

He was feeling frustrated by this point because in this time he could have found another job.

You dont stop looking until you've got an imminent confirmed start date, so if he could have he should have. 

Brie

I wonder if there's some sense of "protecting the public" in their mindset seeing as it's the fire service.  Obviously they wouldn't want to have some oddball working even at cleaning if that individual might conceivably sabotage employees or equipment.  It's a shame they weren't up front about all the hoops he'd need to jump through but I don't blame him for deciding to look elsewhere.

Marcon

DullGreyGuy said:

Marcon said:
..and of course nobody ever has more than one bank account....! 

You are asked to provide all bank statements... of cause you could act fraudulently and not provide some but you also consent to your credit records being checked etc and so its not a good start to your job. 

Credit records don't show all your accounts. Mine certainly doesn't!

lanternsfour

In my opinion this process sounds like a level of overkill for a role as a cleaner and you and your husband have my sympathies. I am particularly astonished by the drug test request. Although it’s public sector work, this is madness. 

I work in a regulated profession. I have never been arrested or in any criminal trouble in my life. I’ve also never been fired for misconduct or anything of the sort. However, I have taken career breaks for mental health, and also to take care of my parents. My mother died in 2019 aged 68 while I was caring for her. I am repeatedly required to explain why I wasn’t in continuous employment during 2018 and 2019 even after an enhanced DBS check and I find it excessive even for my role, so for a cleaner it’s frankly insane. Just my opinion.