some of you may remember me posting a while back about being dismissed from my job after 10 years for theft.i admitted the theft and got a police caution. I had previously never had a warning or any problems and the theft was of free sample items the drugs reps gave us (so I took them in all innocence)
well I lost my job and moved on .
in march I got another job with a hospital . I advised them at the interview what had happened and it was all documented (I have copies) I loved this job and did well. after 11 days I was dismissed as my previous employer gave a bad reference.
as if that wasn't enough one of my references was withdrawn by someone who i had worked with previously for many years- as he had been advised of my dismissal and circumstances of misconduct in an email from my manager who had dismissed me.
I believe this is a data protection breach and in fact very malicious
I have obtained a copy of the email.
I need to take action and not sure what to do .
I feel very angry about it and now feel I should fight back
any advice?
Definitely get advice, either what Nora says or Citizens advice. good luck
I worked in HR for a large company(not in a top spot), and office manager at another.
We were not allowed to give a bad reference, you can decline giving one which will show that you were not happy with the worker. But sometimes there is more in what you don't say on a reference than what you do,we used to just quote the dates that they were employed with us.
We had an accountant that was thieving she took 10k plus all the things we couldn't trace. She tried to get other job and when the employment agencies rang for a reference, we declined to comment and just said yes and no to certain questions which made them aware of her past, she was blacklisted from working in finance in our area.
Any postal requests were met with the same stonewall, just the dates she worked for us.
They might get around it by sending a check list for you to tick, can't remember now it was 6yrs ago now.
I think you are allowed to give a bad reference but it may open up a can of worms if the person decides to sue. Firms tend to give a good reference or none at all. They may argue the case here that they were duty bound to disclose this information.
I think data protection is more about safe storage of information and only allowing the information to be used in genuine circumstances. I would imagine that on the application form there would be a statement to the effect that references would be sought and by applying you would agree to this.
Reps should be banned from giving out free samples and cakes etc. At best it is bribery.
Employers are not allowed to give bad references. How did the person who withdrew their reference, find out. How did the old employer find out who eles gave you a reference.
------------- New Year: Hesketh Bank
Feb/March: Red Squirrel
March: lakes
June: Morecambe
Aug: Lake District(not camping camping)
October: Red Squirrel
Quote: Originally posted by heath63 on 26/6/2014
Employers are not allowed to give bad references.
Employers or any other person can put what they like in a reference.
The main point about giving any reference is that you should be able to prove what you have said is true or you are exposing yourself (or more importantly your company) to libel.
This is why many firms only allow the HR department to provide employment references and they ensure only facts are stated. Stating that an employee was dismissed for gross misconduct for example can and will be stated if that is the truth.
------------- Ollie
2016
Monplaisir - Provence
Camping Les Gorges du Loup
thanks all
im not really interested in the bad reference ,I am disgusted that my previous manager emailed my other reference (who does not work for them) and advised him what had happened and caused him to withdraw his reference .There was no reason for this except malicious intent. Also they should not be discussing my information without my consent.I do have copies of the emails tho...
I just asked my OH, he has said the same as you did Oliver
------------- New Year: Hesketh Bank
Feb/March: Red Squirrel
March: lakes
June: Morecambe
Aug: Lake District(not camping camping)
October: Red Squirrel
Incidently, did you have or were you offered representation when at disciplinary meetings with your employer? Are you in a union?
I would have appealed the decision to sack you as the rep was not an employee of the trust and the items were freebies. Although most hospital policies do state that you are not allowed to accept gratuities, you could argue that you were unaware of the policy or that the items in question were not covered by the policy.
------------- A problem shared is a problem halved
An employer can give a bad reference it just has to be truthful, most now only answer with dates of employment and number of days sick.
HOWEVER, I am surprised that any referee would withdraw a reference on the say so of a later employer. My goodness anyone could write to anyone about anyone saying just what they want, to be malicious about someone they did not like.
Even if the information given to withdrawing referee was true, it is third party information which should not have been used in any way to influence their reference. It is hearsay.
I am also puzzled as to how your employer (from where you were dismissed) knew which other people were referees for your new job, maybe they looked back at your initial application with them and just wrote to any other company who had offered reference at that time.
I have no idea of the law on that one but I too advocate some legal advice on this matter, it needs looking into.