How to know if you’ve been blacklisted & what you can do

In 2009 the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) raided the premises of the Consulting Association. They discovered a blacklist with over 3,200 construction workers names on which had been accessed by over 40 firms. Earlier this year, an electrician was reinstated at the Crossrail project after bringing a claim in the employment tribunal for, amongst other complaints, blacklisting.

Unfortunately blacklisting is a real and current problem which results in hard working, responsible employees who voice their concerns (about, for instance, a faulty fire door) being dismissed and prevented from working within their industry again.

The current legislation to prevent blacklisting is the Employment Relations Act 1999 (Blacklists) Regulations 2010. These Regulations make it unlawful to compile, use, sell or supply a ‘prohibited list’ – a blacklist. Such lists often contain details of people who are or have been members of trade unions or people who are taking part or have taken part in trade union activities.

View the full article, featured on Red Pepper Blog this month.