erroneousblack Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 Can a potential employer ask you to volunteer any disciplinary matters from previous employers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulears Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 I think this is one of the things that can't be asked now, along with sickness record and union membership. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erroneousblack Posted March 17, 2012 Author Share Posted March 17, 2012 That's what I thought, but need to talk to someone, when offices open Monday morning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigclive Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 How could they prove anything anyway if you just denied any past naughtiness? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevieR Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 Standard disciplinary procedures state that any disciplinary action will only be held on record for a set amount of time - normally 6 months to 1 year depending on the matter. After that time has elapsed then that particular matter cannot be taken into account for any further disciplinary action and should be removed from the employee's file to prevent any other person(s) being imfluenced by such information. In the same fashion, if a disciplinary action has expired then it should also not be communicated outwith the company. If it is still within the active time period then that is more difficult to answer and you would need to speak to an employment legal. Perhaps contact ACAS for this one. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramdram Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 I daresay any future employer will have done, or will do, the discreet checking with the current HR or Personnel Dept. A girlfriend of old worked in Personnel Depts in the hotel & catering industry where the churn rate was/is fairly high. She would telephone, or would be telephoned, and the one question asked was, "Would you employ this person again?" The answer was either "yes or no". Nothing derogatory mentioned at all so none of this nonsense of defamatory statements you hear of these days. Don't forget this question can be applied universally... As for the OP being "asked" to "volunteer" such info smacks of the HR dept/interview board getting the candidates to weed themselves out of the running. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the kid Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 I can see why anywhere who CRB/List99 checks wants to know any convictions etc, I see no reason for in house disciplinary info. We are talking about minor disciplinary action for staff who continue to smoke on site, I cannot see anyone thinking of noting it on an application form requested or not. I was also under the impression that you cannot give bad references, is asking "would you employ this person again" and the reply being "no" exactly that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djw1981 Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 That's why it is a phone call. Try proving that it happened. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevieR Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 Personally, I get a bit hacked off by some of the can do/can't do stuff with employment law. At the end of the day, an employer has to actively discriminate when employing a new member of staff to ensure that they are the correct person for the job. The prospective employer needs to know as much relevant information to enable this to happen fairly. With references, any answers given by a previous employer should be honest regardless of whether or not they are positive or negative. The references are put forward by the applicant and so there should be no comeback either way. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramdram Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 The thing is Kid, the folk who evolved this way of getting a "reference" knew, or know, how to "organise" themselves. To imagine they did not would be naive. The response of "yes or no" does not require qualification, to those in the know. (I would say a lot of us have gone further and given an opinion to others about a certain "tech's" "suitability" as a co-worker. All on the QT of course.) I could mention too, but will not of course, that in the hotel industry in London Town, a significant number of house detectives would be ex Met...with friends still working as serving officers. Helping out an old mate would be the least they could do in the way of known lags, especially as the info would be two way...as in "Guess who is staying at our hotel today?" And of course the innocent would not know that one of the chief forms of irritation on hotel premises would be old "Toms" plying their trade. All these ladies would be known by sight by the receptionists and advised to finish their drinks and leave...before moving to the next hotel. Some could be applying to work as chambermaids... In other words all the known blaggers, Toms etc would be known and everyone knew to avoid having them on the premises; could give the place a bad name... So the discreet reference, referred to above, was simply a matter of routine. Ref all things being "above board or fair"...if questioned about not getting a job then the honest answer would be that the winning candidate was better technically...shirley? Plus they knew when to be discreet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musht Posted March 18, 2012 Share Posted March 18, 2012 Some may get a good reference simply to get rid.. Can decline to offer a reference and leave it those asking to consider why. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erroneousblack Posted March 20, 2012 Author Share Posted March 20, 2012 Spoken to BECTU, they say that whilst they can ask about any previous criminal convictions, any disciplinary matters are wiped clean when you leave the company and can't be carried over. They recommended I leave it blank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfmonk Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 I find that a reference of "I can confirm that XXX worked as XXX from THIS DATE to THIS DATE" gets the message across fine... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pritch Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 I find that a reference of "I can confirm that XXX worked as XXX from THIS DATE to THIS DATE" gets the message across fine... That's the only reference you'll get from pretty much any organisation big enough to have an HR department. When I left my previous employer through redundancy, with an unblemished record, I was provided with a copy of what my reference would look like. And it was pretty much as above. Having been a line manager in the organisation in question, we were explicitly told to forward all requests to HR, who would have provided the above for anyone regardless of whether they were the model employee, or someone who worked for three months before being thrown out on their ear for unacceptable conduct. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfmonk Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 Interesting. Every company I have worked for (including Merrill Lynch) have offered much more detailed references... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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