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 😩

Would it be worth getting some temp agency work (Brook Street / Manpower) doing admin to build up some employment record. dBS normally requires evidence for the previous 3 years so it will get easier over time to prove.

The other thing is who keeps 10 years worth of statements anyway? You don’t have to for the HMRC, why should you for a job agency!

DBS checks will show if someone has been in prison. They don't need a bank statement to show this. Besides, I am at a loss to understand exactly how a bank statement would prove this? Regular transactions at the prison shop?

@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)

What will her dhs bank statements prove though? I dont see how they are required for her dbs

@Keepingitreal14 a husband's bank account would prove nothing either way about OP's employment history. So all the what ifs are just bollocks.

Are you absolutely certain that they asked for your DH's bank statements and not simply a statement (i.e. a signed,dated letter) from your husband to confirm he had financial supported you during your years at home?

So if she weren't married, would they ask her father to confirm financial responsibility for her? Or, if an orphan, the local poorhouse? I think I need to check my calendar again carefully, as I was sure it was 2021.

So a man could simply confirm his financial circumstances himself and that's all fine, but a woman can't be trusted to tell the truth (or even understand how money works in that pretty little head of hers), so she needs a man to do it for her?

I don't think they were asking her to steal his data. I don't think GDPR stops him sharing it voluntarily

Only of the principles of GDPR is that data is

"(c) adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary in relation to the purposes for which they are processed (‘data minimisation’)"

In my mind there is no legitimate reason for a recruiter to assess if a husband has supported his wife through her unemployment. Therefore the data being requested is not relevant for their purpose.

We had this but from a different perspective, we were the employer and as a small business we're advised to use Reed for screening. It was beyond intrusive for the candidates and in the end we called them off and scrapped the screening.

You could have had other family money, savings, lottery win, how does his bank statement prove anything.

Would it be worth getting some temp agency work (Brook Street / Manpower) doing admin to build up some employment record.

What if they also want financial proof that a man has ensured she hasn't been a drain on society whilst wantonly and frivolously bringing up children?

She was a SAHP - a very useful and respectable thing for a person to do; she's not a bankrupt who needs to slowly prove that she can be trusted again by getting one of those gimmicky credit cards with buttock-clenchingly high rates of interest.

I had some security firm wanting to know what I had been doing in the gap in my CV where I had put homemaker or something to that effect, I said watching telly and shopping- which was true.

This is completely ridiculous! A DBS check will prove you don't have any convictions and weren't in prison. And so what if you did have a short part time job you didn't declare? That could be for a whole raft of reasons.

My job requires a much higher level of security clearance than for most jobs. We don't have to provide that info, though we do have to declare bankruptcy or any official financial difficult, CCJs and the like. Our immediate families and close relatives are checked out too for any criminal history.

My DH has had periods of time away from work because he suffers from depression. A couple of times he mentioned time off for ill health in interviews but the interviewer couldn't get him out the door fast enough. So then he would cover those gaps by saying childcare reasons. When he found that didn't cut it with some sexist employers he started stretching the times he worked for employers either side of the breaks in employment to cover the gap.
Never was he asked to prove how he was supported during those times. And had he ever been asked for my bank statements I would have flatly refused to supply them because it is no ones business but ours.
What does it even prove anyway? What if your husband hadn't been working either? What if he earns loads but is financially abusive? What if you were single? What of you liver off an inheritance? Why does it matter? Also why his statements and not yours?

Their only concern should be your suitability for the job and your lack of criminal history.

I'd refuse and complain further up the chain. Then I'd dump them, tell everyone about their ridiculous policies so they lose business, and look elsewhere for jobs.

What on Earth has it got to do with them?!

Student Loans Company asked me for similar to prove I was being supported when abroad (think I sent my bank statements showing transfers from dh) so it's not unheard of per se as I can see why I had to prove I didn't loan repayments taken out of earnings - but not by a recruitment company!

@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)

And how would bank statements from another person account prove anything?

Trying to be helpful, have they exhausted the scope for personal referees to confirm your career break and HMRC to confirm no PAYE earnings from a job you are trying to hide.

Good luck.

I can’t really understand the issue

You are applying to work with the most vulnerable in our society you privacy will be invaded slightly by the agency applying for the DBS check which will be enhanced

Maybe look for other areas of work if this bothers you so much

Actually scrap my last post- I think it was actually a signed letter they asked for, confirming it.

@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)

It's not for the DBS. Why do people keep saying that? You never need someone else's bank statement for an enhanced DBS check.

I work in data protection and compliance and I am genuinely intrigued as to how the Data Protection Impact Assessment came out in favour of justifying this processing. I was also SAHM for 9 years, needed a DBS for my job and these over the top checks and balances were not employed.

I handed over mine I’m single

If they wanted my partners to show that my possible earnings were not being paid into his I would hand it over

I’m in a position where my employer needs to know my background because the people I work with are vulnerable

If you have issues with that then I suggest you work in another area

I can’t really understand the issue

You are applying to work with the most vulnerable in our society you privacy will be invaded slightly by the agency applying for the DBS check which will be enhanced

How will looking at her husband's bank statement show that she is safe to work with children?

I didn't know recruitment agencies did that sort of thing. I wouldn't like it.

Go to another agency.

@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)

What? No. The DBS Enhanced documentation is the same as for a standard one.

One of Passport, current Driving Licence, Birth Certificate issued at time of birth, adoption certificate for Group 1 documents, 2a includes current driving licence, birth certificate issued later than just after birth, marriage certificate, 2b bank statement (for the person applying), mortgage statement, utility bill, P45/60, council tax bill, benefit letter, etc.

The rules for each way of providing evidence state what to provide - so, if somebody had a Passport, Driving Licence and a Council Tax bill, they've fulfilled the requirements, for example.

www.gov.uk/guidance/documents-the-applicant-must-provide

Ignore this employment agency bollocks and apply direct to schools in your area, OP.

It’s safeguarding. Reed do 10 years worth of background checks. There are other agencies.