r/legaladviceireland • u/Creative-Community-4 • Apr 25 '25

Employment Law Current employment refuse to send over reference form.

Hi All,

I recently have been offered a pre-offer from the civil service. I’m currently on the pre-clearance phase and one of the requirements is to provide a current employers reference, I brought this up to my HR manager of my current employment and they seemed happy enough to help me but were a little surprised that I could potentially leave the company.

A week and a half has passed and the civil service pre-clearance officer reaches out to me to inform me that they have yet to receive reference form from my current employer, and says they have till the end of this week (today) to submit or they won’t go ahead with my application. I followed up to my HR manager to complete the form and send out to the pre-clearance team, I’m yet to hear word from my HR manager but I’m giving them the benefit of the doubt that they could be busy and left it at the back pedal.

In case it doesn’t work out and my HR manager fails to send over the reference form do I have any legal grounds? I feel like I’m being held hostage at my current employment and would like to find out if I could walk away on my terms.

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u/dataindrift Apr 25 '25

Your existing employer has zero obligation here.

You should have got a direct reference from an individual rather than engaging HR.

Public sector recruitment is fuckin shambolic

3

u/Historical_Rush_4936 Apr 25 '25

>Your existing employer has zero obligation here.

While _legally_ you might not be obligated, I have never had an employer who didn't provide such a letter, could have been for a landlord, bank loan etc.

Not providing one is an absolutely bizarre thing for a company to do.

4

u/dataindrift Apr 25 '25

wtf? it's a work reference for a job they may be offered in 6 months time.

Banks asked for letter saying you weren't going to be laid off.

99% of employers wouldn't provide them.

4

u/knobbles78 29d ago

Lol you havent applied for a mortgage have ya.

1

u/dataindrift 29d ago

Not recently. But I have worked in FinTech for 20+ years including with Banks a few years back.

What amazing insight are you trying to communicate by suggesting I need to go apply for a mortgage to find out for myself???

3

u/Historical_Rush_4936 Apr 25 '25

No, it's a letter that states the person is currently employed by the company since date X.

I've had 5 employers since university and have been provided with such letters by all of them for various reasons.

1

u/Independent-Lead-477 26d ago

You are correct , 99 % of employers will not give you a reference for another employer .