NSW Informal reference check (with consent) seemingly the reason not to hire

[Undersigned]

I was wondering if you could provide advice on the following questions.

The scenario

A candidate applied for a highly paid contractor position within a NSW Government agency. Both reference checks were excellent (verified by the recruitment agency)

The candidate has reason to believe that the Hiring Manager contacted their former Director with an NSW Government agency for a reference check without the candidate's permission or knowledge.


It seems that the candidate's former director was the deciding factor in the candidate not being offered the position.


1. Is this approach legally acceptable? (What laws were broken if any)

2. What recourse does the candidate have? To seek verification decision making or to pursue remedial actions etc?

3.it seem that the former director (NSW Gov) and the hiring manager (NSW Gov) had a discussion over the phone (no records were taken) - what legal requirements are there to (a) keep records and (b) make them available to the candidate ?

4. What other contextual, legal and regulatory requirements may also need to be considered?

5. To what extent do NSw government officials need to capture the information relating to the choice of candidate (especially in relation to deciding factors)?

The candidate has emailed the hiring manager seeking clarification around the decision not hire due to references but had yet to receive a response.

Thank you

 

[Undersigned]

Critical error in headline, should say without consent or knowledge (this is based on informed speculation)

 

[Rod]

1. Yes - for the prospective employer. Likely no for the ex-employer.
2. None against the prospective employer, breach of privacy for ex-employer, possibly breach of confidentiality.
3. Can't think of any legal requirement, though I know nothing about the NSW Government Sector Employment Act.
4. Confidentiality
5. Unsure, may be something in the NSW Government Sector Employment Act.

Proving your suspicions is not going to be easy. I'd put the allegation/suspicion to the hiring manager and ask for an explanation and right of reply.

 

[DavidI]

1. Yes - for the prospective employer. Likely no for the ex-employer.
2. None against the prospective employer, breach of privacy for ex-employer, possibly breach of confidentiality.
3. Can't think of any legal requirement, though I know nothing about the NSW Government Sector Employment Act.
4. Confidentiality
5. Unsure, may be something in the NSW Government Sector Employment Act.

Proving your suspicions is not going to be easy. I'd put the allegation/suspicion to the hiring manager and ask for an explanation and right of reply.

hello Rod,
This is not relating to the issue above, I have put a question and it has not been approved (more than 3 days up to now), I guess it is because of covid and not too many are attending to it, but when I respond to a message, it comes up directly.
I appreciate if you can assist with my question and any one else who can help:

I worked for a company and they are not organised, which caused delays and over budget in the project that I was involved in, the project costed twice the budget amount, the company blamed me for that over budget. I did make mistakes (I am not perfect) but my mistakes did not and was not the reason for the over budget (This is for sure and I can prove it - in court if needed - see below).

The key factors that led to the over budget (the company side or factors):
1- not providing enough resources in the time needed, resources were provided from time to time as they were available.
2- bad IT infrastructure: lot of issues in setting up the IT that caused a lot of wasted time
3- improper management and the initial planning of the tasks (the planning did not address the issues of the project). I was not involved in the planning as I was engaged after that, I was engaged and started working after the planning events and signing the contract.
4-some incompetency of the manager on the project (company side) and not client side. Also, wrong directions from that manager.
5- poor assessment by the managers in my performance review, it will show that they do not consider the facts before raising the issue. I have written evidence for this.

Other factors (not directly related to the company):
6- the client did not provide the requirements in the required time, it delayed to provide the requirements,
7- the client provided the wrong requirements which in some cases work was performed then the client provided the correct requirements.

Other point I want to raise is that the company outsource some jobs to overseas for positions which are not specialised or require certain experience. That experience is readily available in Australia. This is one good key point I want to write as now Australia is going through bad economic conditions and as I mentioned there are many people out of work and they are doing this for the purpose of cost cutting to get their waists bigger.

I was on probation period and they did not want to continue with me (so not fired). Also, I wanted to leave them from the first month, but due to the lock down and bad economic conditions, I did not want to end up standing on centrelink long lines.

I worked more hours than I recorded, I considered some time was going to the learning curve, so not to push the limit as you can say, as time is charged to the client.

Also ,in some cases, the manager was rude and did not understand what I said or talked to the manager, I have written correspondence.

On one social media form they have a low rating, I have not added my review yet, once I do, it will affect that rating negatively. In that social media, it does not show the name of the person who made the review but there is a method to ensure that the reviewer was connected to the reviewee.

One point to raise, is that the company could have easily let me go anytime, but the company through what I am doing is on purpose, so they waited to the last day of my probation to inform me that they will not continue. As mentioned they could have easily informed that they do not want to continue with me long time before the end of the probation period. It is hard to explain this now, but this was done as a revenge and I can prove it (I can not disclose more information here, but in court, there will be no stopping me if it reaches the court).

My question is: what effect or damage that I will face if I put my negative review on google review against the company name. I can create a fake ID and put that review but I don't to chicken out. I want that company to know it is me. All the negative information that I will write is true and can be supported ( also in court): I have some evidence with me and also other evidence can be obtained from their records if it reaches the court. I will not write anything fake or untrue. All information will be true and can be supported and I will not disclose any specific information such as names or amounts etc.... just like I wrote above, but in court, if it reaches this level, I will sing more than a canary!

I can say what I write will not be driven out of emotion but based on facts and can be supported. But my objective of writing that negative review on Google feedback is from pure disgust and hatred.

Thanks to all who write back and I appreciate and looking for comments from lawyers.
Cheers all,