Bad HR Reference - Can it be challenged

[Going Strong]

I have recently finished a long contract with a public sector organisation and the Manager whose a contractor is such sly dude that i feel like he's got one on me.

I came in with a crap rate but it brought me back to London after numerous contract extensions i was due to end in Dec according to my contract but he stated the HR records said Nov ( i done a school boy error in thinking he had official paper which stated that and i found out later that it was in fact Dec and he done me for a months pay and when i challenged him on the phone he denied it and started being snooty about it)

So another PM in the business who i have a good relationship with decided to bring me back on with a much better rate and working for him which sounded a lot better as the previous PM was such a twat. We went for drinks to discuss the role etc but only to notice the previous manager saw us both and caught a whiff of what was going on. PM number one hates both me and the second PM as he clearly has something personal against us.. all the other contractors left his team because he treated us like total kids.

So the next day my potentially new PM has the role signed off by programme management and agreed with the budget team and then when it goes to HR for the final hurdle PM number had just put a cross against my name to say i wouldn’t employ him again.... i was so gutted due to the contacts i made in the business and the amount i delivered for then and the fact it was 20min from home i seriously felt like he got one on me. Most of my work was done with the clients who are more then happy with my efforts.

Since then my PM friend has applied for a new role and will be the Programme Manager in 2 weeks  (he's a permi) so we were having a chat and he would now have the power to challenge the negative reference on my HR record and get me back in.

Has anyone heard this being done before; as this is personal agenda he has against the pair of us surely it can be challenged?

Any thoughts?

[Moscow Mule]

Has anyone heard this being done before; as this is personal agenda he has against the pair of us surely it can be challenged?

Any thoughts?

You are at the mercy of this chap until somebody within their organisation stands up to him.

Up to you to decide if you give enough of a tulip to get your mate to challenge it.

[alreadypacked]

Do you have better references from other roles?
Can you get a referance from some other bussiness users on the project?
Bring them along to HR, I don't suggest you go to HR empty handed.

[Clippy]

Surely your PM friend who is a permie and looks like he is about to become Programme Manager will be able to terminate the evil PM.

[Peoplesoft bloke]

Do a Data Protection Act request for all the data they hold on you. They are allowed to charge you a tenner but they have to show you everything they hold. The little X (if it even exists) will likely go away.

[mrdonuts]

get your lawyer to send a letter threatening to sue for defamation of character

[Zippy]

Do a Data Protection Act request for all the data they hold on you. They are allowed to charge you a tenner but they have to show you everything they hold. The little X (if it even exists) will likely go away.

Get confirmation that the x exists, then ask HR how this squares with the multiple extensions you had. If you were rubbish this should have been spotted before extension #1 was offered.

[threaded]

There's been many studies, and one over here in Denmark comes to mind: this personality type occurs in less than 1% of the population, but over 15% of people who work as managers, and over 25% of public sector managers.

It is one of those things you have to learn in the modern business environment: how to handle psycho managers, and if your career is in the public sector, then you've really got to skill up.

Generally sociopaths only learn from bad experience, so if you give him a good shoeing then he'll almost certainly give you glowing references afterwards. Don't worry about the plod, he'll have a very long record of getting into fights, and if you say he started it, they'll believe you.

[blacksheep]

- if you were really bad during the original contract, they should have got rid of you straight away
- if you were moderately bad during the orginal contract, they should not have renewed you

Both of these discredit the manager who put an x in the box to say they wouldn't employ you again.

[TheFaQQer]

Any thoughts?

Start thinking and acting like a contractor. Go find something else to do - bleating about how unfair it is that someone doesn't like you ain't gonna get you far in this world.

If your mate ends up getting you back in, great. If he doesn't then you need to move on now rather than wasting time on this one.