I am looking for some advice please, I left my previous employer in August 2016. Whilst employed there I received a conditional discharge (6 months) in April 2016 which is now spent. This was linked to a domestic situation and damage caused to a vehicle.

I have applied for a job and been offered it subject to references which they have now received but the previous employer has stated 'has a criminal conviction for damage to property' on my reference, the job I've applied for is as a sales/Lettings agent in which I have not been asked to disclose any convictions.

I have explained the conviction to my new employer etc and they are okay with it but I've read that it's illegal for any 3rd party to disclose my conviction.

What should I do?

Hi MrsB

Thanks for your post.

You're absolutely right in what you say. Under the Data Protection Act, your previous employer should class your spent conviction as 'sensitive personal data' and shouldn't disclose it unless they have your explicit consent to do so.

If you're able to prove this, then you would have the right to claim compensation from your previous employer as they would be in breach of the Data Protection Act. In addition, under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act, your previous employer must not disclose details of any spent convictions. 

Hope this helps. Let us know what you decide to do and how you get on.

Debs 





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Good luck in the new job. Glad to hear that your new employer has disregarded what he's been told.

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Thank you Deb for your reply.

I have the actual reference provided by my previous employer.
Do you know who or where I would go about making a complaint about them? As you can appreciate this has caused me a huge amount of embarrassment and distress.

Thanks

Hi 

Initially, you should make a complaint to the Information Commissioners Office - they have a 'Report a Concern' section - https://ico.org.uk/concerns/.

Go to the 'How your information has been handled' link - https://ico.org.uk/concerns/handling/.

Hope this helps but if you need any further information or advice, please let me know. 

Good luck

Debs

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Hi Debs,

The information you provided was excellent. I contact the ICO and they advised that the former employer has breached the data protection act regarding sensitive information. I have been advised to write to my former employer stating what they have done and give them 28 days to respond once they have responded or the 28 days have lapsed, I need to send all relevant documentation to the ICO for them to investigate and offer a formal decision. After this time I could claim compensation through a small claims court.

I will keep this post updated incase it is relevant to anyone else in a similar situation.

Thank you once again.

Hi 

Sounds like the ICO have given you some great advice. If you need any help with anything let us know.

Keep us posted - I'm sure this will be of help to anybody else having to go through a similar situation. We don't see employers behaving like this very often but when they do, the consequences can be horrendous.

Wishing you the best of luck.

Debs   

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