The Information Commissioner's Office, an independent body that promotespublic access to official documents, has told Tinies it must tellnannies and nursery staff what former employers have said in references.Tinies claims this will stop nursery managers and parents from givinghonest and open references.
"We are talking about the most important job possible here - lookingafter children," said Ben Black, director of Tinies. "If the nurserymanagers or parents felt under any intimidation - imagined or real - notto disclose full details, then there is a real danger that the wrongpeople could slip through the net."
A spokeswoman for the information commissioner said it was simplyapplying the law. "The Data Protection Act gives individuals the rightto find out what information an organisation holds on them," she said."This includes the right to request a copy of references provided bytheir previous employer."
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