Forums
Can an employment agency refuse to tell you which employer has given an adverse reference about you? I ask this because I have been left feeling extremely angry today after an employment agency told me that they could not put forward my job application for a Civil Service post any further due to a "referencing" matter. When I demanded to be told who it was that had gone against me, the consultant replied that she could not give me that information as she was "bound by the data protection act."

Can she really do this? The reason why I want to get to the bottom of who the guilty ex-employer is because, as far as I am concerned, I have done NOTHING wrong to justify any employer giving me a bad reference. I have behaved impeccably in ALL my previous jobs, and the only reason I can think of that might cause some degree of unfavourable comment was the fact that my last employer finished my temp contract prematurely as they deemed me "unsuitable" for the role (which, admittedly, I was, as I was just a Jack-of-all-trades rather than the Admin Assistant role I had been led to believe I would be). They have probably put me down as "Dismissed", which may have set alarm bells ringing in the minds of the employment agency, as they were not fully acquainted with the facts of my dismissal.

So can I do something about this ex-employer going against me like this all the time with each job I apply for? They are going to put the spoke in for me every time I apply for a job and a reference is needed. Surely I can do something about it, as it is damaging my chances of ever getting off the dole?
you can write to all your ex employers and ask them for a written refference!!that way you might see who has anything bad to say!!but saying that anybody who is giving a refference is not allowed by law to say anything bad in their refference!!!they dont have to comment on a question asked but they cannot write anything negative or to slander yourself!!!!
Don't list that particulr employer in the future then. No way to recieve a bad reference if they can't be asked.
Originally Posted by pokerchamp
you can write to all your ex employers and ask them for a written refference!!that way you might see who has anything bad to say!!but saying that anybody who is giving a refference is not allowed by law to say anything bad in their refference!!!they dont have to comment on a question asked but they cannot write anything negative or to slander yourself!!!!



The above is wrong, employers can write anything they want in a reference as long as its factual.
I have been asked for a few ref's in the past from different employers and they all seem to ask the same questions, the fav is
"would you re-employ thi person" if you put NO there is not laways the option to explain why not???? If I were you, I would do as suggested before and not put your suspected employer down for a reference

I found as well that if people have been looking for work for a while, sometimes it helps to do vol work as this will give you another source for "current" reference, just a though while your waiting for your next job

Good luck with your search jobneeded
Posted By: Anonymous Re: Agency Won't Tell Me Who Gave A Bad Reference - 15th May 2012 8:00pm
Look here for the law on the subject. Google is your friend!
paddedjohn you cannot put bad things on a refference about people wether it be fact or not,you can however answer yes or no.
Originally Posted by pokerchamp
paddedjohn you cannot put bad things on a refference about people wether it be fact or not,you can however answer yes or no.


im sorry mate but you are very very wrong, as long as the reference is factual and the content is relevant then it can be written. it would be wrong to say the employer is crap at their job but if they wrote they are always late and dont like working in a team or that they are untrustworthy then that is ok if it is true.
A lot of companies hide behind "Data Protection Act", most of the time, falsely.

You are entitled to ANY information that the employment agency hold about YOU. The "data" they are "protecting" is data about you.
Just get some friends as references if you have had any issues with old jobs. Can always work for businesses who have gone in the recession. Only with the civil service they can check your employment history via hmrc. No doubt all the good.peeps on here will slate this but by the sounds of it ur cv isn't great because you don't seem to post good news stories.
sits back awaiting the fireworks
Posted By: Anonymous Re: Agency Won't Tell Me Who Gave A Bad Reference - 15th May 2012 10:01pm
Baconbuttie has hit the nail on the head! Jobsneeded has posted for month about needing a job, he has been shown where to go for jobs, where to go for help getting a job but he always comes back with a sob story! I, personally have posted 9 jobs on this site this year alone and it's only May! How many has he gone for? If he is not geting them then either his application is no good or his interview technique needs working on! If either of these is true then he should have recognised it by now and done something about it! There are agencies and people out there who can help, for free!
Posted By: ex0__ Re: Agency Won't Tell Me Who Gave A Bad Reference - 15th May 2012 10:18pm
Originally Posted by Croc_
Baconbuttie has hit the nail on the head! Jobsneeded has posted for month about needing a job


A month? Dude has been posting topics about jobs for like 9 months. Was a point where he was spamming them last year.
Posted By: Anonymous Re: Agency Won't Tell Me Who Gave A Bad Reference - 15th May 2012 10:31pm
Sorry the 's' didn't work, otherwise there is an 'a' missing, should read 'months'! My bad!
Originally Posted by peodude
... You are entitled to ANY information that the employment agency hold about YOU. The "data" they are "protecting" is data about you.
Not necessarily true: Subject access and employment references (links directly to a .pdf found here)

Either way, Jobneeded has the right to send them a subject access request: http://www.ico.gov.uk/for_the_public/personal_information/how_manage/access_info.aspx
© Wirral-Wikiwirral