[tinkerb]

hi girls,

i was wondering if anyone can enlighten me as to what the work reference is for. The reason i ask is that the call centre i work at is awful. 2 years ago they made the majority of the office staff redundant and kept the 'creme de la creme' of staff to keep the office ticking over (i was one of the people they kept - i was excellent then apparently but i am rubbish now!!) They have now recruited loads of new staff and raised our targets to unreachable levels.
    I spoke with a union rep the other day and she told me that over the 3 call centres only 15% of staff are reaching their monthly targets and if you miss them more than twice they will take disciplinary action against us and sack us. The top manager said obviously the other 85% are not working hard enough! My theory is that maybe they want to move the call centre abroad(who knows - i cant make any sense of it- maybe they dont want to make redundancy payments) Anyway in the last few months i know of 4 supervisors in tears over having to enforce these targets and that doesnt begin to start on the low morale of actual staff who are on the front line. I missed my target last month and complained to the union about it and said that everyone was stressed. She recommended that i say that i am stressed and that it will then make it harder for them to take any disciplinary.

Im worried that if i do this then later on when the Employment reference is taken up it will look bad on me. But im also worried for my job as are all the staff who i have spoken to.

Thanks for any help (i am currently looking for another job  )

tracey x

 

[KarenM]

Tracey

I never had an employment reference.  Our referees had to be people who both knew dh and I and could comment on our capacity to parent.  One of the 3 referees had to someone who could act as a guardian for the children's affairs should something happen to us both.

I would be upfront with your social worker and explain the work situation and that you are trying to resolve it.  Ask them why they need it and could you use someone else instead.  I am not sure if anyone else has had to have employment references and if they could comment.  good luck and keep us updated with your progress.

Karen x

 

[superal]

Just to comment on what Karen has said.  I know I'm going further back than most of the people on this thread but we also didn't have work references.

I'd take Karen's advice and speak to your SW.  Good luck

Superal
xx

 

[movinggirl]

Hi,

The work references are usually taken when the social worker is checking out things such as your reliability, the job security and more importantly, if you work with children, your capacity in that area. It does not sound like your employer will be able to comment on any of this. 

I think it is important for you to make the complaint that you are stressed if that is what your union has told you to do - to protect yourself and your job. However I am guessing that if/when the adoption goes through you will either be leaving or reducing your hours at work. Hence it will have little impact on you caring for a child. Remember the overall aim of the assessment is to look at your capacity to care for a child safely.

I agree with Karen, ask your social worker why they want a work reference and explain the situation to him/her. Some LA's just do it as proceedure, however in my experince the work ref does not always add to the assessment. They may still ask for a reference, but at least then they will have some back ground and be able to give anything provided by your employer due weight within the context of the assessment.

Good luck
M

 

[Nats]

Hi

We had work references done and seeing as I am the Pa to my managing director I got to look at it before and after, and infact had to tell him my NI number and suchlike....poor bloke still calls me by my maiden name too even though I got married 5 years ago!!

Anyway it just asks about time keeping, trustworthy'ness, reliability, your hours, wages, and thats about it. Its just to get a better picture as work can be a different enviroment.
Im sorry that you are having a rough time, and agree with the others that if you explain the situation they will understand.

Good Luck

Natxx