Previous employer attempted to sabotage my new job

Masomnia

Depending on your condition it could be discrimination.

ETA I think it probably is a data protection breach as well, and I would have thought that your previous employer would be liable for that too.

jonnygee2

A couple of weeks into this new apprenticeship, my new employer received an anonymous call from someone at Co-op, telling him to ditch me, that I had cost them thousands etc etc... My understanding is that this is illegal, but I'm not sure exactly where I stand?

This is probably a breach of GDPR, but it could depend on what information you've allowed them to share in the past.

I would email Co-Op HR and tell them that, from now, you withdraw any consent for them to pass on information about your employment to anyone else apart from the employment dates and job titles, and remove any consent to store information about you that is not necessary for them to retain (which is basically employment dates, salary etc).

Also, personally I would give them a description of the incident, the time of the call and the phone number it came from (if it was not witheld). I would think they'd be interested in following up - it's hardly good for the company reputation if people are phoning up other companies with unsolicited feedback about ex-employees. They may not follow up, of course.

At least by explicitly removing your consent, it removes the remote chance of any more official follow up.

Realistically, the person is unlikely to do a lot of damage because not many people would take an anonymous, unsolicited reference very seriously (because it obviously comes from an idiot), and your new employer has taken the sensible course of action in ignoring them.

[Deleted User]

superquark wrote: »

Since only a //// employee would have the information regarding my history there, are they liable? Even tho I can't prove specifically who called (I am almost sure I know who it was but have no proof). What are my options? I have a wonderful new employer, who has sided firmly with me and assured me that I'm secure, but things might have been very different.

You have to wonder what your new employer hopes to achieve in telling you something they could in theory have kept to themselves. Sorry I'd be wary of both.

This thread is so remind full of a girl I worked with from a supermarket back in 2006 in our new role ..who had pretty much the same done to her, our new employer wasn't very professional it turned out.

I was left quite angry by a reference last year that failed to include FTC/employment of a fixed term - at no point did the 'prospective employers' who would have requested references point it out, it was totally as to how I saw it. (so far) for me I was able to leave a very considered and measured facts only 'employee review' on the site where the job was advertised to tell my side and dealt with the sadness felt when you believe you leave somewhere ever on absolutely amicable terms (clearly understanding I'm not likely to ever work there again but actually that works for me). It was far better then me tackling them very direct resulting in them then never not answering a reference, there is now a public sentence about it.

Comms69

jonnygee2 wrote: »

This is probably a breach of GDPR, but it could depend on what information you've allowed them to share in the past.

I would email Co-Op HR and tell them that, from now, you withdraw any consent for them to pass on information about your employment to anyone else apart from the employment dates and job titles, and remove any consent to store information about you that is not necessary for them to retain (which is basically employment dates, salary etc).

Also, personally I would give them a description of the incident, the time of the call and the phone number it came from (if it was not witheld). I would think they'd be interested in following up - it's hardly good for the company reputation if people are phoning up other companies with unsolicited feedback about ex-employees. They may not follow up, of course.

At least by explicitly removing your consent, it removes the remote chance of any more official follow up.

Realistically, the person is unlikely to do a lot of damage because not many people would take an anonymous, unsolicited reference very seriously (because it obviously comes from an idiot), and your new employer has taken the sensible course of action in ignoring them.

It’s not the OPs info to withdraw consent, these are business revords

jonnygee2

t’s not the OPs info to withdraw consent, these are business revords

I don't think this is correct. Under GDPR:

- You can withdraw consent to pass the information on to other organisations (e.g. in references) (just in case they had this consent to being with, which is possible)

- You can withdraw consent for them to hold personal information about you which it is not necessary for them to hold for compliance or essential business reasons.

Which is exactly what I advised the OP to do.

Once consent is explicitly withdrawn, any attempt to give a formal reference etc would be a data breach.

jonnygee2

You have to wonder what your new employer hopes to achieve in telling you something they could in theory have kept to themselves. Sorry I'd be wary of both.

Telling the employee is the decent thing to do in my opinion. I would be more wary of an employer who kept it a secret personally. Honesty is very important in employer/employee relationships, and that runs both ways.

FBaby

You're wasting your mental energy an considering your mental health, it is not worth letting this get you down since things are going well for you now.

Someone tried to sabotage your current job but their attempt didn't work. Gain some internal satisfaction from this and move on with the knowledge that your current post is going well.

The alternative is to get into a lawsuit that you are unlikely to get anywhere with as you don't seem to have any evidence of what you believe, that will cost you money and a lot of mental energy. That will do you more damage and therefore that person more satisfaction than if you ignore and move on.

Comms69

jonnygee2 wrote: »

I don't think this is correct. Under GDPR:

- You can withdraw consent to pass the information on to other organisations (e.g. in references) (just in case they had this consent to being with, which is possible)

- You can withdraw consent for them to hold personal information about you which it is not necessary for them to hold for compliance or essential business reasons.

Which is exactly what I advised the OP to do.

Once consent is explicitly withdrawn, any attempt to give a formal reference etc would be a data breach.

I’d hardly call this a formal reference

They are entitled to hold the info for 6 years; that is simple enough. It’s their data and is needed should any legal challenge be mounted.

Passing info to other organisations I agree about the consent issue.