Reply to: Compromise Agreement

[The Agents View]

Be aware, that we are normally quite good at reading between the lines as well.

So when a line manager turns around and says "I couldn't possibly comment" - the mind does boggle.

Off the record conversations happen ALL the time, but might not directly slate you - they'll just not say anything positive - which is just as bad, but has the advantage of not being a suable offence.

"I couldn't possibly comment" is a regularly used phrase in these scenarios!

[Muttley08]

Agents used to wind me up with this lot....and they've probably caught us all out once when we were new to contracting. Nowadays I find it very amusing thinking of them on the other end of the line trying their little hearts out

[SueEllen]

Who said your ex managers name first? You or the recruitment guy who knew him...but couldn't quite remember his name?

Alternatively it was probably one of these:

Pimp: " I know Peter Smith at X who managed the widget department you were in, are they still there? "
You: "No my manager was Sarah DogsBody"
Pimp: "I know her well, we go back years......."

OR

Pimp: " I know Peter Smith in the xDepartment, Toby Jones in charge of whatYouCallEms, RichardCranium in thoseOtherThings and Jane Jones in HR"
You: "I worked under Sarah Dogsbody in widget department". (As two of the names mentioned are actually 2 managers who worked there)
Pimp: "Yes her and Jane Jones are good mates of mine we go back years........"

[Muttley08]

Who said your ex managers name first? You or the recruitment guy who knew him...but couldn't quite remember his name?

[Wanderer]

the rec con said he knew my ex manager quite well.

They ALL say that.

Seriously though, don't worry about it you'll be fine.

[SueEllen]

Giving a negative reference is illegal.

It isn't.

Giving a negative reference however could find the person giving the negative reference in a court of law on a variety of charges depending on what the background is. In the worst case where there is no discrimination and/or no compromise agree the person can sue for liable or defamation of character.

In this case it would be a breach of the compromise agreement. And as it's a compromise agreement you can legally demand to see a copy of the reference provided.

References are not confidential any more as you can get all references legally using a Data Subject Access Request under the Data Protection Act from the company who received the reference.

If you wish to slag someone of do it over the phone but hope that the person at the other end isn't taking notes as those notes could be used to sue you. (I know a case where this actually happened.)

[fullyautomatix]

Giving a negative reference is illegal.

[matzie]

If you do get a poor refernce, its likely you (or your solicitor) will never know of it. references are confidential.

However, if the employer in question has a significant HR department and is inclined towards integrity, then the presence of a compromise agreement (which probably has a clause about a satisfactory reference being given) should lead them to give a minimal reference with nothing subjective included.

A Friend who received such an agreement with a previous employer had a specific written reference included in it, with a clause stating that if asked for a reference, the employer would send that exact letter and nothing else. He never had any trouble (so I've heard) :-)

That said, try not to lose sleep over it. You can recover from career blips. The best is yet to come.

[AnthonyQuinn]

No need to worry.. bad refs are suable offence.

They will only confirm that when did u start & when did u leave & how much you were paid.

Thats rubbish. I would be sued out of my pants by now if thats the case. Who was Alan Sugar's apprentice candidate who missed out because of a poor reference last year?

If you do get a poor refernce, its likely you (or your solicitor) will never know of it. references are confidential. Things that can be (and are) asked in refernce requests include
1. your salary
2. dates of employment
3. Rating on a scale of 1 to 10. And a textual explanation of it.
4. Sick days off (Now outlawed through the equality act).
5. Reason for leaving (Resignation / Sacking/ Redundancy/ Others)

[Ashwin2007]

How long was the permie role?

[d000hg]

The recruiter might be lying, but if they genuinely know the boss well then of course off-the-record conversations happen all the time. But just wait and see.

[ChimpMaster]

Why not give the rec con the name of someone who actually liked you at your permie job? Assuming there is someone who did.

[thunderlizard]

No. Rec cons always exaggerate the strength of their relationship with the client. You'll be fine.

[secontrator]

I do not think anything negative will be said. Likely they'll just confirm you were there between certain dates. I wouldn't worry.

No need to worry.. bad refs are suable offence.

They will only confirm that when did u start & when did u leave & how much you were paid.

[Fred Bloggs]

I do not think anything negative will be said. Likely they'll just confirm you were there between certain dates. I wouldn't worry.