Is it legal to be dismissed after 18 months employment o grounds of failure to provide ref from your past empl?

andy w

Yes it is perfectly legal.
The vast majority of jobs are given "subject to references".
Unless it stipulates a time scale for those references in the contract then effectively if they were not supplied you can be dumped at any time.

Moral, get references.

COLIN T

It is certainly unusual, but you will find that when most companies make a job offer they specifically state "subject to receip of satisfactory references". They, of course, are the arbitrators of what is satisfactory or not.

If your work and conduct has been satisfactory then it seems likely that they are looking to reduce their workforce and have just noticed that they did not get a reference from previous employers and view that as a loophole and reason to dismiss you. References from colleagues would not really be considered by any employer as satisfactory references only personal ones. Whether you actually have a case for wrongful dismisal against them is pretty debatable. My opinion would veer towards thinking that for some reason they find you unsatisfactory. If they have had 18mths satisfactory service from you they would hardly dismiss you for not providing them with a reference from someone else.

Frank Hammer

Yes, it is legal. Employers can do just about whatever they want nowadays.

catwoman_10001

At the company I work I had to provide my references within a certain amount of time, if not then you're contract is automatically terminated.
Read your contract for more details, 18 months sounds like a long time and you may be able to fight it if you weren't given warnings about your references being provided within a timescale.

hayley

why did it take 18 months to check a reference, i`d contact a tribunal

April

The boss should have gotten the references in his/her hands before you were first hired NOT wait till after 18 months. So, It shouldn't hurt to contact the employment tribunal.

rodgersquadge

seems like a cop out to me get some free advice from citizens advice

geoffrey_0007

The way it is, You supply your new employer with your previous employers address and phone number and email address, you sometimes, also have to give your written permission for your new employer to gain access to your past employment record, It is entirely up to your employer to approach your previous works, for a reference, and to ask for your written agreement to release such, if needed. THey cannot dismiss you on those grounds they say they have. You need to contact the Industrial Tribunal for unfair dismissal, be quick, there are time limits.

nightcrawler

Your problem is not one of legality but of 'reasonableness'. Some things can be legal but unreasonable so you still have legal rights. Is it reasonable for your employer to sack you after 18 months for something he/she could have done before you even started work there? No, of course not. Some people, including many experts, might tell you there is no grounds for claiming unfair dismissal. If they say that, ask them what they know about WRONGFUL dismissal (it is not the same as unfair dismissal). If nothing, (many lawyers don't know enough about it) talk to someone else. Wrongful dismissal has no qualifying period and no maximum compensation. It is a civil wrong that does not appear in any act of parliament.

I am not saying you are right and your employer is wrong - we don't know enough to say that - only that there are avenues to explore.

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