Children at risk from job reference data protection ímadnessí

Children could be put at risk because bureaucrats have told the UKís largest supplier of nannies and nursery staff it must disclose information to job candidates that until now had remained confidential.

Tinies, which supplies thousands of chidcarers every year, have been told by the Information Commissioner that they must tell nannies and nursery staff what former employers have said in references.

Bad childcarers will end up with good references because former employers might feel unable to give honest and open opinions and children would be put at risk, Tinies says.

Tinies became locked in a dispute with the Information Commissioner after a nursery nurse became unhappy that she was being turned down for childcare jobs because one of her former employers had not given a good reference.

Despite the nursery manager insisting that she did not want her opinions passed on to the nursery nurse in question the Information Commissioner is insisting on enforcing the disclosure.

Tinies is desperately concerned about this, and is fighting the ruling because they feel it will stop nursery managers and parents employing nannies from feeling able to give honest and open references in the future.

A court challenge is now being considered by Tinies.

With 25 branches around the country, Tinies puts particular emphasis on checking references for nannies and nursery staff applying for jobs. It is company policy not to just rely on a written reference but also to speak directly to the person providing the reference so they can probe them fully on the quality of the candidate.

Tinies says the Information Commissioner should consider Data Protection rules that say references can remain confidential if it is reasonable not to disclose ñ and put childcare in that category.

Ben Black, director of Tinies, said it was madness, and anything that stopped a nursery manager or parent giving an honest and open reference could have consequences for a childís safety.

ìThis blanket policy could put children at risk. Nursery managers, and in the case of nannies parents, will decide it is not worth the recriminations with a former employee if they give them the poor reference they might deserve.

ìWe are talking about the most important job possible here ñ looking after children. If the nursery managers or parents felt under any intimidation ñ imagined or real ñ not to disclose full details about a former nanny or nursery worker then there is a real danger that the wrong people could slip through the net because the references do not paint a full picture.

ìNursery managers especially see a lot of staff and their ability to give open and honest references is essential. A reference which merely confirms dates of employment might be fine for some industries but itís not really sufficient in the childcare market.

ìChildcare is a small, local industry where peopleís paths often cross. Anything that stops nursery managers giving people like us full references should be fought tooth and nail,î Mr Black said.

He added that the Criminal Records Bureau, through its tortuous history, had managed to recognise that children represent an exception to the norm and made allowances by releasing not only any criminal convictions in the case of childcarers but also occasions where they had been investigated even if it did not lead to a conviction.