黑洞社区

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) is investigating 19 members who work in human resources positions in construction over their alleged involvement in blacklisting.

Peter Cheese, the chief executive of the CIPD 鈥� the world鈥檚 largest professional association for human resources (HR) managers with 135,000 members 鈥� made the revelation in his evidence to the Scottish Affairs committee yesterday.

The committee is continuing to investigate construction industry blacklisting, an inquiry it began in June last year.

黑洞社区 revealed in May that CIPD was investigating whether members 鈥渁lleged to have made use of TCA services鈥� breached its professional code of conduct in doing so but this is the first time that a number has emerged.

An investigation carried out by 黑洞社区 also found that of the 39 alleged main contacts of Ian Kerr, the boss of blacklisting firm the Consulting Association, who are still known to be working, 78% remain in senior HR roles within construction while 61% are still working in HR at the same firms they were before.

Cheese told the committee that the investigations were based on information already in the public domain and said members found guilty could face a range of sanctions ranging from a written reprimand to expulsion from the CIPD, which is a membership body.

He added that the whole investigation process could take 18 months to complete.

But chairman Ian Davidson questioned whether CIPD was taking action in the public interest or in the interests of the HR profession.

He pressed Cheese on whether the CIPD would make public the results of the investigation and said repeatedly that the committee was undecided whether the organisation was 鈥減art of the problem or part of the solution鈥�.

When Cheese remarked that it was 鈥渃urious鈥� that CIPD had received no external complaints about blacklisting, Davidson suggested this was because of a perception that it was 鈥渦nable or unwilling to act鈥�.

Back in May, the CIPD chief executive said he wanted start a debate on blacklisting with the construction industry and has been writing to HR managers in the sector to say so.

鈥淧eople in the HR industry are very concerned about this,鈥� he said.

In a statement ahead of his appearance before the committee yesterday, Cheese, said: 鈥淲e very much welcome the Scottish Affairs Select Committee inquiry into blacklisting in the construction industry in the past. We take the issue very seriously. I condemn the practice, the law has now rightly been tightened, and it mustn鈥檛 happen again.

鈥淚t was partly in response to the Information Commissioner鈥檚 Office bringing this issue to light that my predecessor started the process of strengthening our Code of Professional Conduct and our investigation and disciplinary procedures. The revised Code and procedures came into force in July 2012.

鈥淲e are investigating a small number of individual CIPD members alleged to have made use of employee blacklists in their recruitment processes via The Consulting Association鈥檚 services.

鈥淲e鈥檙e also developing new good practice guidance on the wider issue of pre-employment vetting. This will clearly restate that blacklisting is illegal, but will also broaden out to address complex current and future issues surrounding pre-employment vetting, particularly the potential for managers to search electronic profiles through social media and other sources of information.鈥�