Work

char115

How long do references take

DullGreyGuy

char115 said:

I left out my last job on application form, I have now been given a conditional offer.  I was there for 5 days, went off sick and resigned 3 weeks later due to family comitments.   I have confessed to HR via email  that I left the job out as it was so short as they said that sometimes they ask for employment history from the HMRC.  I am so worried that they will withdraw the job offer because of this.

So you were there a month? 1 week working, 3 weeks off sick plus notice period?

What will happen will depend very much on the company, what industry etc. In part it can all depend on exactly what they asked you and how you explained why you didnt include it. 

In a highly regulated industry filling in a form and signing a declaration of truth most likely would be a deal breaker. In a less regulated industry they may think it's better you've admitted it rather than them finding out and could decide to reference that firm too and make their decision based on the reference they receive back. 

In an unregulated business there will be much more management discretion on how they feel about it, how keen they were on you and how much they fancy restarting the recruitment process.

char115

Thank you guess it's just a waiting game now 

Marcon

char115 said:

I left out my last job on application form, I have now been given a conditional offer.  I was there for 5 days, went off sick and resigned 3 weeks later due to family comitments.   I have confessed to HR via email  that I left the job out as it was so short as they said that sometimes they ask for employment history from the HMRC.  I am so worried that they will withdraw the job offer because of this.

I'm afraid it is a waiting game and nobody here can predict what this potential employer might think. Some would shrug it off; others would see it as a red flag.

It makes uneasy reading if your last job was very recent. You had 5 days there, promptly went off sick and then resigned due to 'family commitments'. I'd certainly be asking some questions about why you went off sick so quickly and what those commitments were, because I'd want to know how they might impact on your current ability to work.

MattMattMattUK

No one here can tell you what this employer will do, for me as an employer it would be a total deal breaker and the job offer would be withdrawn. 

char115

Thanks for your comments so far, just to clarify the job that I left early was in 2022. The family comittment was caring for my elderly father which affected my mental health. The organisation thankfully is a caring/charity organisation not corporate and part of their thesos is getting people especially those with mental health concerns into employment. The main issue for me is leaving the job off in the first place.  

Marcon

char115 said:

Thanks for your comments so far, just to clarify the job that I left early was in 2022. The family comittment was caring for my elderly father which affected my mental health. The organisation thankfully is a caring/charity organisation not corporate and part of their thesos is getting people especially those with mental health concerns into employment. The main issue for me is leaving the job off in the first place.  

If you've not worked since 2022, then presumably the reasons for the long gap were discussed at interview (you don't need to explain yourself here - we're not your potential employer!), which makes the omission much less relevant to 'today'. Fingers crossed...

General_Grant

question for those who know, please:
How does a potential employer find out from HMRC whether (and by whom) you were employed in 2022?

tizerbelle

General_Grant said:

question for those who know, please:
How does a potential employer find out from HMRC whether (and by whom) you were employed in 2022?

They don't.  They may find out the immediate prior employer by way of a P45 if the employee a) submits a P45 in the first place and b) hands in the first page (employee copy) of the P45 by accident, they often do, as that names the employer / DWP but that is the only chance they could find a name out I think.

char115

An employer can request a HMRC employment history but you have to give authorisation or you can do it yourself on the app and send it to them.

DullGreyGuy

General_Grant said:

question for those who know, please:
How does a potential employer find out from HMRC whether (and by whom) you were employed in 2022?

We are required to show employees etc are "fit and proper", I've not heard of anyone asking HMRC but instead if there are any gaps of more than 28 days in the last X years (normally somewhere between 3 and 5) you are asked to submit the bank statements of all accounts that cover the proceeding month, the period of unemployment and the following month along with an explanation of what you were doing and how you were financially supporting yourself. 

Needless to say the statements are used to look for evidence of pay coming in from an undeclared employer amoungst other things. 

When hiring a person that had finished uni, gone backpacking, and then worked a couple of years it was a real pain getting them through HR vetting processes. Bank statements were clean and inline with the story but HR wanted evidence of what they were doing whilst backpacking including invoices from accommodation etc. Took a lot of debate with HR to accept that these were $1/night hostels etc and no, they cannot write to them for evidence of someone who'd stayed there 4 years ago. 2 months in total... I was surprised she was willing to wait.