Council Blacklist Problem!

Plantation7

After being turned down for a recent NHS Role when i asked for feedback they told me that i was their preferred candidate if is wasn't for the fact that i'm on a Council Blacklist and therefore they have to withdraw my application.
The only history i have with the Council is when i worked for them many years ago after leaving school, after my contract ended they sent me a letter saying they had accidentally overpayed me £125 in wages, i could see this was not true but they took me to the small claims court anyway.

They told me to attend the court in their Council region but they had to give me the choice to attend a court outside the borough and i did, the Judge ruled in my favour claiming they had insufficient evidence and i thought that was the end of it, outside the court the Council representative was not happy and she warned that i would not work again, i took this comment as sour grapes but i'm now wondering.

After speaking to a local MP he said such blacklists do exist but mainly for trade union members but as i won my case it should not be happening to me, he also claims that the only way i can get my Name off one of those lists is to contact the European Commission.

Has anyone ever heard of this before, it would explain my situation but according to the MP i need to prove i'm on this list first but the Council have denied such a list existing.
I am wondering about "Freedom Of Information" as a possible next step!

tacpot12

I find it very surprising that the NHS would use or even have access to a council blacklist, but your story is so unusual, especially in that you were told about the list by the NHS leads me to think it could be true. Can you go back to your contact at the NHS and ask to be provided a copy of the list with all other names redacted (hidden)? If they won't do this, you are stuck for proving the list exists.

I don't think a freedom of information request will work.

Plantation7

Yes i agree, if this had happened with a Coucil application i would understood it more but to happen in this case has got me quite concerned.
I am now trying to get more Information and the NHS is saying they can't tell me anything because of Data Protection.
Makes me feel like a criminal without doing anything wrong.
The Freedom of Information looks like my best option now.

nicechap

Go back to the original council and do a Freedom of Information request about blacklists, whether they operate them, how many people are on it, are they ever reviewed, shared outside the council, etc.

Then do a SAR and see what they have on you.

Nick_C

I very much doubt that there is such a thing as a Council Blacklist.

But if the Council was one of your last two employers, the NHS may have sent them a reference request and asked the question "would you re-employ this person".

They may have a note on your file saying "do not re-employ" because of the alleged debt.

[STRIKE]I would ask the NHS for a copy of all the personal data they hold on you in relation to your job application. I don't see that they have a lawful reason for refusing to disclose this, but I'm not an expert in this area.

You could also try a complaint to the ICO.

My understanding of recruitment law is that references are not confidential, and must be shown to the candidate if requested.[/STRIKE]

General_Grant

Nick_C wrote: »

My understanding of recruitment law is that references are not confidential, and must be shown to the candidate if requested.

My understanding is that you are wrong there.

unforeseen

It used to be the case that under DPA you could get them from the prospective employer by using a SAR but not from the originator of the reference.

However the changes brought in under GPDR and DPA 2018 mean that references are now totally exempt from disclosure

Undervalued

Nick_C wrote: »

I very much doubt that there is such a thing as a Council Blacklist.

But if the Council was one of your last two employers, the NHS may have sent them a reference request and asked the question "would you re-employ this person".

They may have a note on your file saying "do not re-employ" because of the alleged debt.

I would ask the NHS for a copy of all the personal data they hold on you in relation to your job application. I don't see that they have a lawful reason for refusing to disclose this, but I'm not an expert in this area.

You could also try a complaint to the ICO.

My understanding of recruitment law is that references are not confidential, and must be shown to the candidate if requested.

Which they are quite entitled to do.

Think of it this way and imagine you hire a tradesman to do some work on you house.....

You are not very happy with some of the work so you refuse to pay part of the bill. He takes you to court and wins so you have to pay the rest of the money. I very much doubt you would hire him again despite the law having ruled that he was in the right!

polgara

Tosh...NHS recruitment teams don’t have blacklists so I reckon it’s either your DBS is an issue OR your references are poor but ask for more information.

Undervalued

Nick_C wrote: »

I very much doubt that there is such a thing as a Council Blacklist.

But if the Council was one of your last two employers, the NHS may have sent them a reference request and asked the question "would you re-employ this person".

They may have a note on your file saying "do not re-employ" because of the alleged debt.

I would ask the NHS for a copy of all the personal data they hold on you in relation to your job application. I don't see that they have a lawful reason for refusing to disclose this, but I'm not an expert in this area.

You could also try a complaint to the ICO.

My understanding of recruitment law is that references are not confidential, and must be shown to the candidate if requested.

Which they are quite entitled to do.

Think of it this way and imagine you hire a tradesman to do some work on you house.....

You are not very happy with some of the work so you refuse to pay part of the bill. He takes you to court and wins so you have to pay the rest of the money. I very much doubt you would hire him again despite the law having ruled that he was in the right! Equally, if a friend asks you to recommend a tradesman I doubt you would suggest him, in fact I rather suspect you would advise against!