Reed want to see my husband's bank statements 😩

[Weepingwillowtree]

Desperate to get back into the workplace after 10 years out being a SAHM. Plucked up the courage to go for a Reed interview for a teaching assistant job (no qualifications required even though I have a BSc). Was told I had too much of a gap in my CV and they would need to see my husbands bank statements to “prove that I had been supported by him during this time”. I feel this is a total invasion of our privacy, what has my husbands finances got to do with whether or not I am capability of being a teaching assistant?? Am I being completely unreasonable refusing to provide this? They said they can’t give me a job unless I show his bank statements 😩

[MeadowsInSunshine]

@verybadhairdoo

I work in Finance and this is a common thing. They will be checking to see if you were actually being supported by him and not in jail or something. It's no big deal really.

That really isn't the case. The (in this case enhanced) DBS check will show whether sunshine has been in prison.

[MeadowsInSunshine]

• someone not sunshine

[ThanksItHasPockets]

@Weepingwillowtree

Desperate to get back into the workplace after 10 years out being a SAHM. Plucked up the courage to go for a Reed interview for a teaching assistant job (no qualifications required even though I have a BSc). Was told I had too much of a gap in my CV and they would need to see my husbands bank statements to “prove that I had been supported by him during this time”. I feel this is a total invasion of our privacy, what has my husbands finances got to do with whether or not I am capability of being a teaching assistant?? Am I being completely unreasonable refusing to provide this? They said they can’t give me a job unless I show his bank statements 😩

Why a teaching assistant role, OP? Do you want to train to teach?

No criticism of teaching assistants at all but if you are a graduate and had a previous career then you have options, even if you are restricted to term-time only.

[LadyDanburysCane]

@verybadhairdoo

I work in Finance and this is a common thing. They will be checking to see if you were actually being supported by him and not in jail or something. It's no big deal really.

That’s what the DBS is for (and a TA would actually require an enhanced DBS).

[SchadenfreudePersonified]

@DinosaurDiana

I think it’s an invasion of privacy.
As long as your DBS is ok I can’t see the problem.

THIS ^

What a bliddy check!

[SchadenfreudePersonified]

*cheek, though check also works

[PaulaTrilloe]

Maybe ask them to put their request in writing so you have proof of their disproportionate request?!

Sounds like someone at REED requires some training? (Does sound like proof to live and work in the UK test though, are you not a UK citizen?)

[AccidentallyOnPurpose]

I'm a TA with a very big gap(moved countries,floundered a bit, then SAHM) in my CV .

I obviously have a job, no one asked to see OH's accounts and even if they did that would prove nothing as we have separate bank accounts.

An enhanced DBS is all that's needed for safeguarding purposes and references. I could provide references as I had been volunteering in a charity shop and at another school for quite a while.

This is bonkers.

[SomebodyThatIUsedToKnow3]

Offer to take in tax returns? Not the full return just the summary bit listing your income and tax. That would prove you weren't earning and he was. If you're talking a decade that could be hundreds of pages of bank statements.

[NickyHeath]

I applied for a council job that asked for references to verify what I was doing during career gaps (so I think I put down the headteacher of my kid’s school, my husband’s colleague when we lived overseas etc). That makes much more sense as a system than asking to see my husband’s bank account - actually he doesn’t have one, he only has our joint account

[C8H10N4O2]

@verybadhairdoo

I work in Finance and this is a common thing. They will be checking to see if you were actually being supported by him and not in jail or something. It's no big deal really.

Finance with a capital F eh?

Roles which legitimately require enhanced vetting have processes and specialist agencies to deal with that vetting. They also deal directly with any third parties. (in the UK at least).

They don't ask you to supply partners' financial statements. That would be an employer or agency trying a trawl for personal data with people who don't know better and won't refuse. Bear in mind the info in this case would facilitate identity theft. There are good reasons for data privacy laws.

[caitQ]

Are they putting you forward for jobs with regulated employers?

When I got my first job in financial services, I had to provide details of all past employments (to the bloody day!) and prove one short period of unemployment with proof of a JSA claim. I think it was to prove I hadn't been in jail in another country or been out busy robbing a bank to support myself.

If you can't show proof of your own income, as shocking as it initially sounds, I can see why they would look at a partner. But, as I said, only if they were placing you with certain types of employer.

[caitQ]

Sorry, I didn't read that properly - just spotted the fact you said it was for a teaching assistant job. I'm surprised the FS rules apply to teaching - I've also done a lot of work in schools, and they're generally only all about the enhanced DBS.

[lonel]

I work in Finance and this is a common thing. They will be checking to see if you were actually being supported by him and not in jail or something. It's no big deal really.

Well if I had been in jail, surely my husband would still have continued working so this piece of paper proves absolutely nothing!

[insancerre]

I’d be tempted to give them his bank statement with everything marked out with a big black permanent marker

[Justgorgeous]

@YouJustFoldItIn What has that got to do with you Miss Marple?

[Keepingitreal14]

@poppycat10

Absolutely nothing to do with being a woman 🤣 if a man had taken a career break to raise the children or travel the world, he would be asked for exactly the same information

Yeah right. It would be assumed that he had savings/a private income.

They don’t assume anything in references, they will have asked the OP how she survived for the time with no income, if she said benefits, they would have asked for proof of benefits, if she said savings, they would have asked for copies of her statements, she must have said my husband supported me and therefore they have asked for proof!

Would you all like a TA working with your children that had been sacked from 2-3 other jobs over the last 10 years but yet keeps getting new jobs by saying she hasn’t worked and therefore has no references?!

[NickyHeath]

@lonel

I work in Finance and this is a common thing. They will be checking to see if you were actually being supported by him and not in jail or something. It's no big deal really.

Well if I had been in jail, surely my husband would still have continued working so this piece of paper proves absolutely nothing!

Yes, this makes no sense. My husband’s bank account wouldn’t look much different if I were in jail - I suppose there would be increased payments for school dinners & before/after school club?

[Goldenbear]

I find it difficult to understand how this is UK GDPR compliant, it is not about stealing people's personal data it is whether this processing is 'necessary' for recruiting someone in to this role- arguably not and under DPA 2018 does this processing impact on the rights and freedoms of the individual?

[CirclesWithinCircles]

@RosesAndHellebores

An enhanced DBS does not require any third party verification. A partner's documents are not included in the list of required documentation. This is definitely not for the DBS check.

The only legitimate reason I can think of is in relation to Right to Work. If the ops partner is in the UK on a visa, the op can work. However for the visa to remain valid, the op's partner cannot change jobs without the Home Office being notified and a new visa being issued. However in that case, it would be more likely to ask for correspondence from the Home Office. Alternatively, and Reed is big enough to have access, right to work status can now be checked through the UKVI portal pending submission of documents.

I suspect this is a belt and braces approach arising from Reed relying on relatively inexperienced sales people who conflate the regulatory requirements with their own misunderstandings which then get written into the local office processes because nobody is experienced enough to refer upwards for expert advice.

I had to be positively vetted in relation to DH's job. I was approached directly for information about my finances and I imagine this was triangulated via credit agencies.

I agree, it's an idiot employee in Reed somewhere who has come up with this stupid idea, without understanding that its indirectly discriminatory against women, as they will be disproportionately affected.

People who don't kniw what they're doing make up all sorts of nonsense, and Reed clearly need to train their staff better so this sort of offensive, over-reactionary nonsense doesn't happen.

The scrutiny required to prove from a husband's bank account over a sizeable period of time that his wife either hadn't been in prison or hadn't worked elsewhere would take hours and even then, would likely not price anything of the sort.

Again, this is why we have referencing and job interviews, where gaps in employment can be discussed. The suspicion about gaps in employment in the UK is bizarre anyway. Just ask relevant questions about it at interview without going all MI6 and thinking you're tracking down some criminal mastermind who has decided to go straight by pursuing a new career as a teaching assistant!

[ThewaterlilliesofGiverny]

It could be a rogue employee who uses the information to do some identity theft shenanigans.

I’m wary of handing over my financial info, let alone someone else’s.

[BadMotherLover]

This sounds very dodgy. I would ask them to explain why and escalate, maybe complain. A DBS check should cover anything they need to know. DH's bank statements are none of their business. Sorry you are in such a difficult situation.

[TSSDNCOP]

Her tax records would indicate employment.

School's follow Safer Recruitment in Education. They check for employment gaps, take references and run DBS as part of that process.

Looking at a husband's bank statement would show precisely nothing that enhanced that process.

[jay55]

Call HMRC and get an employment statement from them, that will show you've not been earning in the time period.

[OhWhyNot]

It’s for the DBS

The information they request may seem intrusive this will have been asked of them they have no interest in what your dh depends his money on

But you are applying to work with the most vulnerable in our society

Go to any other agency they nay not request as much information I had to hand over back statements (I’m single) for my dbs (nhs)