unfairly Sacked due to CRB Check, Company admits fault, what now?

[Mfjg2015]

Hi all,

I recently gained employment with SKY in a retail store position, part of the application process was to give my consent, to what i thought was basic disclosure (disclosure Scotland)

 

I was sucessful with my job applicatrion and was offered a formal contract of employement, wich i accepted. I had to travel to luton for a 2 week residential induction course, fully paid and my official start date of my employment was 08/06/2015. I was 3 days into my course and on the afternoon of of the 10/06/2015, just before the class of 11 were leaving for lunch i was pulled aside and asked to come into the office. In the office i was summarily dismissed for a couple of convictions that happened in 1993 showing on my CRB, im 40 years old, these happened when i was a foolish 18 year old, i got caught in a stolen car and got 6 months imprisonment for theft and taking vehicle without owners consent.

 

This was the last time i got into any kind of trouble and i like to see myself as a conributing member of sociaty with a family and even a full clean driving license. Ive held previous posts that required a CRB, ive worked for Virgin Media, British Gas and as a load engineer, british gas and Virgin were sales roles, all the Basdic disclosures came back clear.

so i only asume Sky performed a Standard or enhanced disclosure. I tried to explain to the Manager of Sky that i believed it was my right not to disclose this conviction as it was spent for a number of years, i was just dismissed out right and wasnt even given the opurtunity to appeal. Of course i was very upset, i felt humilited, ashamed and has left me in deep financial crisis. I contacted My area manager, i also phoned the HR department voicing my concerns. Sky admitted fault once there legal team looked at it and offered my position back. I told them i didnt want to work for them and refused, as i felt it could harm future prospects of promotion and left doubts in my mind, i wouldnt feel comfortable, i felt ashamed and embarrased that my employers knew and it just wouldnt feel right to work for them.

 

My question is this, my understanding is, is that they broke the law by performing a Standard or enhanced disclosure as its just a retail job and doesnt come under the exempt list according to the rehabilitation act 1974, it also invaded my privacy, and its also left me up the creek with no paddle financially aswel as the emotional impact. It was a long winded requiment process and all in all it was 2 months from applying to starting, during that time i declined other offers of employment as i wanted to work for Sky for ages and was really exited about the job.

 

I contacted ACAS but they cant do anything, does anybody know who i can go to, as i would really like to claim compensation, like ive said, me and my family are really struggling financially at the moment so i cant afford a solicitor, i was only working there for about 3 days so have no rights concerning employment laws, is there anything i can do?

 

Please Help!

 

Thank you.

[goodatresearch]

Did you sign anything agreeing to them a crb check? If so what sort of CTV check did it state?

 

Also I thought the rules changed and now your entitled to see the results first.

[Mfjg2015]

Im not sure, but it said disclosure Scotland, which i believe is a basic disclosure.

[Mfjg2015]

Yes, sorry yes i did sign agreeing to a Criminal check, disclosure scotland.

[maroondevo52]

There's a link here to Disclosure Scotland for anyone trying to help...

 

https://www.disclosurescotland.co.uk/

[Mfjg2015]

Ok, so Disclosure Scotland is a Basic disclosure, ive had a few of these and have always come back clear, so infact i didnt actually give my consent to a Standard or enhanced disclosure as this kind of disclosure is the only one which would show a 22 year old Spent conviction.

[havinastella]

What do you realisticly want?

[Mfjg2015]

What do you mean by want? Sky are a massive multi billion pound company, im just a little man, i would just like to know if i can do anything and how to go about it, can i actually claim compensation and what law have they broken, data protection? human rights, my right to private life, and to be honest i would like as much money as possible, what do you think i could relistcly claim? i dont mean to sound like a money grabber or anything like that, ive just been put in a very nasty position through no fault of my own.

[GrumpyToSayTheLeast]

Was this a one time offence and not a peep since? It should have been spent 7 years and six months after you left prison.

 

Not sure you can do much. Have they confirmed IN WRITING you were fired for that conviction? Or just verbally told that and then let go as unwanted? Do you have anything in writing?

[Mfjg2015]

No, nothing since, was a wake up call and had enough common sense to learn by it, 22 years later bites me in the rear...lol...

no, i have nothing in writing, but they did offer my job back and im guessing theres plenty of internal coms. didnt take the job back though, would you? lol, would be very insecure there to say the least, promotions,...etc..etc all because they knew something they had no right to know, more i think about it, more im sure they have breached the data protection act.

[andydd]

I think you realistically have to answer the question above ?, what do you want ?, you are unclear. Even if they have broken a law it and action is taken, it wouldn't benefit you in any way. Maybe you could gain some compensation but not sure it's worth the hassle, remember as a new employee you have hardly any rights anyway, I worked at my last job where something similar happened, a ccj meant an employee was dismissed by the company relented and offered him Job back and everything was fine. Imo you should of accepted the position back.

[Mfjg2015]

Yeah, i suspected there isnt much i can do, sort of makes you wonder why theres laws in the first place, didnt accept job back, because after being humiliated, treated like ****, sort of lost my faith in it, if you know what i mean, never mind, im sure il get over it, cheers for your answers.

[SabreSheep]

The problem is

Any compensation would have to be actual financial losses as a direct consequence.

 

The other problem is that you are expected to mitigate your losses as quickly as possible.

 

In which case, they offered your job back which means loss of employment would be much harder to claim.

 

Accepting the job back and looking for work whilst employed would have been a better route IMO

[Mfjg2015]

Im going to write a letter of complaint, asking for mediation, SKY breached the Data protection act, also rehabilitation of offenders act 1974, theres also a strong argument of them also abusing my human rights article 8 of a right to a private and family life, i actually think they have exededed just the employment issue and ive also just found out i can legally refuse the offer of re employment due to them obtaining my personal details without my permission, remember, i only gave consent to a Basic disclosure, they performed a standard/enhanced, so, will phone the HR department to find out where to send letter, can only suck it and see.

[CrappoMan]

You have shot yourself in the foot by not accepting the job when re-offered to you to mitigate your losses.

I would SAR them and find out exactly what information you authorised them to apply for and what they received from Disclosure Scotland.

Is the job on the 'Excepted Professions, Offices, Employments and Occupations' list ?

[Mfjg2015]

No, there definatly not exempt from the rehabilitation act 1974 and is NOT an exempt occupation, legally, and has been tested in court i cant have any predudice towards me for refusing my job back as Private and confidential Data about myself was obtained by SKY unlawfully.

[GrumpyToSayTheLeast]

What job types did you apply for?

[Mfjg2015]

Its jus a retail job.

[caro]

Was it sky that broke the DP act or the crb co?

[Mfjg2015]

Dont know but i guess its Sky that has the duty of care and should have relised before going off half cocked.

[caro]

IMHO the info should not have been provided to Sky unless you gave permission. They can't be blamed for that. Have to say that I agree with crappoman that you may have shot yourself in the foot by refusing the job.

 

In any case, compensation is likely to be minimal so it's up to you if you think it's worth pursuing, if only for the principle of the matter.

[andydd]

Im going to write a letter of complaint, asking for mediation, SKY breached the Data protection act, also rehabilitation of offenders act 1974, theres also a strong argument of them also abusing my human rights article 8 of a right to a private and family life, i actually think they have exededed just the employment issue and ive also just found out i can legally refuse the offer of re employment due to them obtaining my personal details without my permission, remember, i only gave consent to a Basic disclosure, they performed a standard/enhanced, so, will phone the HR department to find out where to send letter, can only suck it and see.

 

Unless you are prepared for a lengthy and costly legal battle I wouldn't bother. As mentioned you would be hard pushed to quantify any actual loss, turning the job down would go against you. It may of been sky made a minor clerical mistake but did quickly attempt to rectify it.

[JoeyJoeC]

A member of my family has an ongoing legal battle with a CRB company, as they disclosed too much information. There is a NWNF that deals solely with these. I will try to find the name. We've been offered £5k to settle out of court so far.

[Mfjg2015]

Thanks for that, yes, my rights have definatly been breach, ive wrote a letter to Sky offering my willingness to settle out of court and asking for mediation, the problem is, Sky obtained the certificate so i dont have a copy of the CRB.

[Mfjg2015]

Unless you are prepared for a lengthy and costly legal battle I wouldn't bother. As mentioned you would be hard pushed to quantify any actual loss, turning the job down would go against you. It may of been sky made a minor clerical mistake but did quickly attempt to rectify it.

 

Minor clerical mistake? they broke the law, Nacro have been in touch, on 3 points of law, Rehabilitation of offenders act 1974, Data protection act, article 8 of the human rights act a right to a private and family life, hardly a minor clerical error...lol..