23-05-2008
National Staff Dismissal Register
It is not often that I am against any new development that assists employers run their businesses more effectively, but I have to say that the latest development from the Action against Business Crime (AABC) has me biting my nails.
Going live at the end of this month will be the National Staff Dismissal Register (NSDR) which basically is an online resource for employers to check whether potential employees have ever faced “allegations” of stealing, forgery, fraud, damaging company property or causing loss to employers. It is a black list.
It’s a black list where people, who have not been convicted, tried or in some circumstances even aware of the detail of charges against them can be placed on a list and effectively prevented from getting employment if they seek a job with an employer who checks that register.
It appears (at least on the face of it) to be open for abuse and in a world where I spend most of my professional life protecting employers from dishonest employees, I am horrified at the prospect that employees will be prevented from earning a living for offences that they have not been convicted for.
It is also not necessarily a good thing for employers. Making entries on the register may leave employers open to prosecution in some circumstances by the Information Commissioner (although the Information Commissioner has been consulted on the opening of the database) and for more wealthy potential employees there may be a course of action for liable.
In addition it means that offences can not be “spent” and if a previous employer has acted discriminatorily in events leading up to an entry on the register then new employers may be committing a further act of discrimination by relying on the register to refuse somebody a job.
In effect employers will feel able to dismiss staff on the likelihood of guilt rather than the burden of proof, leaving them to make wrong decisions and consequently leave real thieves in place on the basis of what an innocent employee may have done years before at a different organisation.
Not only is this new database an affront to personal freedom, it is an affront to every employers ability to make decisions about employees based on the circumstances in front of them instead of some malignant or vindictive entry on a register that does not reflect how a person has become.
I am really not some bleeding heart liberal but I do think that if an employee does something wrong he should be punished (even dismissed) and allowed to move on.
Going live at the end of this month will be the National Staff Dismissal Register (NSDR) which basically is an online resource for employers to check whether potential employees have ever faced “allegations” of stealing, forgery, fraud, damaging company property or causing loss to employers. It is a black list.
It’s a black list where people, who have not been convicted, tried or in some circumstances even aware of the detail of charges against them can be placed on a list and effectively prevented from getting employment if they seek a job with an employer who checks that register.
It appears (at least on the face of it) to be open for abuse and in a world where I spend most of my professional life protecting employers from dishonest employees, I am horrified at the prospect that employees will be prevented from earning a living for offences that they have not been convicted for.
It is also not necessarily a good thing for employers. Making entries on the register may leave employers open to prosecution in some circumstances by the Information Commissioner (although the Information Commissioner has been consulted on the opening of the database) and for more wealthy potential employees there may be a course of action for liable.
In addition it means that offences can not be “spent” and if a previous employer has acted discriminatorily in events leading up to an entry on the register then new employers may be committing a further act of discrimination by relying on the register to refuse somebody a job.
In effect employers will feel able to dismiss staff on the likelihood of guilt rather than the burden of proof, leaving them to make wrong decisions and consequently leave real thieves in place on the basis of what an innocent employee may have done years before at a different organisation.
Not only is this new database an affront to personal freedom, it is an affront to every employers ability to make decisions about employees based on the circumstances in front of them instead of some malignant or vindictive entry on a register that does not reflect how a person has become.
I am really not some bleeding heart liberal but I do think that if an employee does something wrong he should be punished (even dismissed) and allowed to move on.
