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Under the safeguarding guidance (refer to above), employers are expected to operate recruitment procedures taking account of the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. This includes the need to disclose in references any allegations of a child protection nature which have been made against an employee, to potential future employers. There is still a duty of care however in respect of providing an employee a reference which is based on fact and a fair reflection of the employee’s suitability for future employment. Information provided in references to another employer may be challenged by an employee or the future employer if information is provided which is later found to be false or inaccurate. 

In using information provided in references in assessing a candidate’s suitability for future employment, care also needs to be taken that a potentially suitable applicant is not unfairly disregarded. As disclosing of information on allegations becomes common practice across employers we can expect to see more references that mention allegations. It is appropriate to investigate further an allegation in a reference causing concern rather than operating a blanket approach of not employing anyone who has had an allegation made against them.

There are a range of outcomes arising from allegations as follows:

• Substantiated

A substantiated allegation is one which is established by evidence or proof.

This would include findings which were upheld at a disciplinary hearing or criminal convictions.

• Unsubstantiated

An unsubstantiated allegation is not the same as a false allegation. It simple means that there is insufficient identifiable evidence to prove or disprove the allegation. The term, therefore does not imply guilt or innocence.

It is quite common for allegations to be unsubstantiated where a complainant may be a child or a vulnerable person as it is often difficult to establish in the absence of other witnesses exactly what happened.

• Unfounded

This indicates that the person making the allegation misinterpreted the incident or was mistaken about what they saw. Alternatively they may not have been aware of all the circumstances. For an allegation to be classified as unfounded, it will be necessary to have evidence to disprove the allegation.

• Deliberately invented or malicious

This means there is clear evidence to prove there has been a deliberate act to deceive and the allegation is entirely false.

Giving a context to allegations

In order to provide a context for disclosing an unsubstantiated allegation the following could be provided to assist a future employer in assessing its relevance:

• Basic facts of the allegation, anonymising any witnesses/complainants
• Length of service and number of allegations in that time

• The view the employer took of this allegation and any action taken
• Whether the employee remained in employment following the allegation, if so this suggests an ongoing confidence in their suitability for employment which should be reflected in the reference
• Whether the employer still had any concerns in the light of this allegation or whether they still had their full confidence
• Whether any further training and development was offered in response to the allegation and how effective this was
• In the case of unfounded, deliberate or malicious allegations confirmation that these should not have any affect in the employee’s professional reputation
• Where an employee resigned facing a disciplinary investigation, so effectively the outcome is unknown, this should be disclosed in any reference

Examples of phrases to be used:

“An allegation of assault on a pupil was made but x resigned during the investigation and before the disciplinary hearing could determine an outcome”.

“A single unfounded allegation of assault was made against x during her twenty years of good service to the school. This should be disregarded in respect of her professional reputation”.

“An unsubstantiated allegation was made by a parent against x of inappropriate discipline being used in respect of their child during x first year of teaching at the school. Additional support and guidance was offered to x and his professional practice has since improved significantly. The school continues to have every confidence in his suitability to work successfully as a teacher”.   

“X was convicted of indecent assault during their employment, on that basis he was dismissed and reported to the Independent Safeguarding Authority on (date).

“An allegation of sexual assault was made against x by a serial complainant which was found to be unfounded. This is the only allegation made against x in the light of her 15 years of excellent service and should effectively be disregarded.”

“Two unsubstantiated allegations have been made against x during his career one in 2002 and one in 2005, both relating to inappropriate use of force in restraining a child. Due to a lack of witnesses there was insufficient evidence to uphold these allegations however there was sufficient concern to insist x attended additional training and he was moved to a role where there was normally another professional present on duty during his shift.  There has been no further cause for concern since 2005.”

End