Help- need some advice about referees- when you put not to contact them, but they do anyway!!! [grr]

[EachPeachPearMum]

Hi,
On most application forms you can tick to say you do NOT want your referees contacted prior to offer of employment.
What redress do you have (ie what the hell do you do) when the people you are applying to c*ck up and contact your current employer for a reference?

Obviously this makes the atmosphere at work unbearable!
Should you make a complaint, or will that jeopardise your chances in the future?

EachPeach that's very annoying. There's not a lot you can do in terms of redress, because it's done now and can't be undone. I would definitely say complain though, that's not acceptable at all.

Do you know who it was who contacted your employer - was it your potential boss or someone from HR? If you have a contact in HR who is dealing with the recruitment campaign, I'd suggest them as a first point of call to work out exactly what went wrong here. They need to know so they can put the procedures right.

In terms of mending things with your current boss, I'd initiate a chat to get it out in the open, reassure him/her about your commitment to your job, possibly discuss the reasons you are looking to leave if that's appropriate, and of course apologise.

Thanks for your help fbb!
If you make a complaint though- will the prospective employer hold it against you if you apply to them in the future?
It will have been HR, rather than individual dept.

This is actually my DB's situation (mine is a whole other thread!)- he feels he is now being singled out at work.
He has has projects taken off him with no explanation (he is in IT), had his PC moved from his team, into another room with 2 senior managers, and sales person, with no notice.
He feels like a 'naughty little boy'.

Obviously I'm oly getting one side of it but it doesn't sound good. Its a small company

If it's HR that have made the mistake, they need to know, and he should complain. They won't make any decisions about recruitment anyway, so it won't be held against him.

Even if they are involved in the actual decision making process for recruitment, I can't possibly imagine a scenario where they will use that as a reason not to recruit someone. It's their mistake, no his, and they should (and hopefully will) be grovelling.

He should meet with his boss and try to clear the air I think, otherwise working is going to be unpleasant.

Thanks for all your help!