bad reference

Hi there hopesomeone can help. My partner recently had an interview which she was"the prefrred candidate". She has now been told that she recieved a bad reference so the post is no longer there for her. She cannot understand this as her ex-employer who let her go due to last in first out policy said she would do anything to help but now seems she has given a bad reference. What van she do about this?

sorry if i have posted this on the wrong forum.

She really needs to see a copy of the reference to know exactly what the problem is.

Contrary to popular opinion, it is perfectly possible and legal for an employer to give a 'bad' reference, as long as it doesn't give a misleading impression of the candidate and as long as it is based in facts that can be substantiated.

But if your partner thought a reference coming from her previous employer would be good, I assume there were no problems with her performance/attendance or whatever that she was aware of, so in that case giving an unexpected bad reference might not be acceptable.

I would suggest she requests a copy of the reference from the prospective new employer and, depending on what it says, either ask to speak to someone at the new employer to address their concerns, and/or speak to her previous line manager or whoever gave the reference and take it further that way to avoid future problems.

hi, we have now recieved the bad reference in it her old employer is saying my partner relied on her colleagues too much and didn't use her own initiative could this be seen as misleading as my partners job was as a homecarer but was insructed she was a "floater" and had to find her own shifts by liasing with her colleagues. All other workers had a set rota I find this statement to be very misleading and contrdictual.

Had either of those comments ever been raised with her previously? If not she should contact her old employer and request that future references do not contain reference to supposed performance problems that she was unaware of.

She can also contact the new employer who had the concerns about the reference and ask to speak to the potential line manager about the issues in an attempt to reassure him/her, and let him/her know that she has requested her ex employer amend her reference in future to accurately reflect her performance.

It may be that the damage is done now, so it might be a case of avoiding it in future.