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Advice on employment

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Seaside

Member since
July 2022

558 posts

Posted Mon February 6, 2023 9:37pmReport post

Any advice on what jobs can be done whilst on the SOR would be greatly appreciated.

My son was forced to either disclose to his employer or to resign ( he chose to resign) by the very unpleasant visor manager and I have a feeling that any job he applies for will come with the same restrictions.

Smile through tears

Member since
September 2021

2538 posts

Posted Tue February 7, 2023 4:09amReport post

Excuse my ignorance why do I feel I should know this - but what is a Visor Manager and what is their role?

Edited Tue February 7, 2023 4:10am

Maij

Member since
December 2020

287 posts

Posted Tue February 7, 2023 7:41amReport post

Post deleted by user


Edited Fri June 30, 2023 1:08am

Maij

Member since
December 2020

287 posts

Posted Tue February 7, 2023 7:41amReport post

Post deleted by user


Edited Tue February 7, 2023 7:42am

loulou74

Member since
September 2022

255 posts

Posted Tue February 7, 2023 8:59amReport post

Has he asked his probation officer? My husband's told him they have contacts and can always find offenders work.

majestictopaz

Member since
December 2019

499 posts

Posted Tue February 7, 2023 9:30amReport post

I recommend looking for jobs that do not require DBS checks before or at any point during the job role.

My person was able to keep his job once convicted but had been asked to do a DBS check for a few projects or which he had to decline. Thankfully his employer didn't push as to why, but my person looked for a new job because he knew he would not get any further in a career if he kept turning down projects.

He went for small companies that didn't ask for conviction history in the job application. He did have an interview once tho when they asked and he did disclose and they didn't offer the job.

But he has had a job for a few years now, and police are happy for him to keep it (he is past probation so police are the only ones handling him).

The probation officer should be helping them find a job and unlock site should have resources and suggestions of types of jobs and companies

Seaside

Member since
July 2022

558 posts

Posted Tue February 7, 2023 3:27pmReport post

Majj we did challenge the visor and ask him why he'd done this but he then became very aggressive on the phone and told my son that he wasn't doing himself any favours by questioning his authority-the implied threat there being that things could be made a lot worse.

All the advice we've been given has been to challenge this but sadly I think we just have to take it because of fears of possible repercussions-it's so very wrong though .

Luckily my son has us for support but my heart really goes out to those who don't have anyone no wonder people end up homeless and desperate

Life feels over

Member since
September 2022

412 posts

Posted Tue February 7, 2023 4:10pmReport post

@seaside please speak to a solicitor. If this person isn't following correct procedures and is using intimidation tactics with potential personal bias he needs to be stopped. For your family and others he may be involved with. xx

Seaside

Member since
July 2022

558 posts

Posted Tue February 7, 2023 4:28pmReport post

Life we have emailed our solicitor and are waiting for the response.

My feeling is that this guy would just deny it but I really want to stop him being able to do this to anyone else.

Alison20

Member since
March 2021

361 posts

Posted Tue February 7, 2023 4:53pmReport post

Hi Seaside

On reading your post the one thing the VISOR man can not deny is that he went into your son's place of work and told the assistant manager about your son convictions.

Just a though have you felt about complaining yourself about him? I think you can complain if his actions/behaviour have had a negative effect on you even though the behaviour was not directed towards you. I have found this on the Rethink mental health charity website.

The link is www.rethink.org/advice-and-information/rights-restrictions/police-courts-and-prison/complaints-about-the-police/

I am really feeling for you and your son, it is not right he is being treated like this.

Edited Tue February 7, 2023 4:55pm

Seaside

Member since
July 2022

558 posts

Posted Tue February 7, 2023 5:02pmReport post

Alison thank you so much this is really helpful information and I will certainly have a look now .

SoTired

Member since
March 2021

387 posts

Posted Tue February 7, 2023 11:16pmReport post

Post deleted by user


Edited Tue March 21, 2023 8:20am

Seaside

Member since
July 2022

558 posts

Posted Tue February 7, 2023 11:27pmReport post

Sotired my son is 36 -he has experienced a lot of problems throughout his life and is very vulnerable.

SoTired

Member since
March 2021

387 posts

Posted Tue February 7, 2023 11:38pmReport post

Post deleted by user


Edited Tue March 21, 2023 8:20am

Life feels over

Member since
September 2022

412 posts

Posted Wed February 8, 2023 12:14amReport post

@seaside there's a section on prisonersfamiles.org about community sentences and offender managers. They also have a helpline x

Maij

Member since
December 2020

287 posts

Posted Wed February 8, 2023 1:49amReport post

Post deleted by user


Edited Fri June 30, 2023 1:08am

SAL

Member since
December 2021

895 posts

Posted Wed February 8, 2023 7:46amReport post

I've been following this thread and I'm in complete shock that this has happened and is allowed to happen without identifying a reason why. This is against GDPR if they can't identify and communicate a risk.

Surely there are codes of conduct they have to adhere to? Managers they report to.

Maij

Member since
December 2020

287 posts

Posted Wed February 8, 2023 8:31amReport post

Post deleted by user


Edited Fri June 30, 2023 1:08am

Seaside

Member since
July 2022

558 posts

Posted Wed February 8, 2023 8:33amReport post

Maij and Sal the reason given was that children may come into the place of work and that parents would want to know if someone was on the register.

To clarify he worked in a customer service role but any children who came in were always accompanied by their parents and in a public area in full view of others-he never had any unsupervised contact.

It is possible that if he had been allowed more time to make a decision and had been able to make a disclosure to his manager then he could have stayed in the job but he was given an hour before the visor had stated that he was going into the workplace and the manager was on leave that day.

The visor insisted that he would be going into the workplace regardless of the decision made by a certain time.

In addition to this he wasn't actually in work on the day of the phone call so why wasn't he allowed more time to decide?

The PSR and the SHPO both state that he is low risk and that being in employment is beneficial to his mental health and at no point even after sentencing was he told that he had to disclose.

Sad_and_scared

Member since
December 2022

36 posts

Posted Wed February 8, 2023 9:34amReport post

"Parents would want to know" is not a valid legal reason for sharing that information with employers. Public safety could be - there are certainly some offenders who could exploit working in certain shops especially those that might have a lot of young unaccompanied teenagers there. What does Probation think? If the Probation Officer doesn't think there is good reason for the disclosure he or she will be hacked off and may be best placed to raise it, even if privately? If Probation think there was a good reason for disclosure maybe the Visor was right (in disclosing, not their appalling attitude). Police are meant to record in detail the reasons for disclosing and why it is necessary and proportionate.

Seaside

Member since
July 2022

558 posts

Posted Wed February 8, 2023 11:12amReport post

Probation weren't even aware of this until my son had his appointment with them last Friday afternoon and the probation officer did say that she would phone the visor and try to get some answers but since then we have not heard anything and she was not certain that she would be the person in charge of his case either.

He has another appointment with probation on Friday and will be asking more questions then.

There was no risk to public safety attached to his work whatsoever this is ludicrous tbh would the same rationale be applicable to being in a church for example as children might be there ?

GZ

Member since
December 2021

164 posts

Posted Wed February 8, 2023 12:05pmReport post

Hi seaside,



just last week we had a meeting with my oh visor to see what her expectations of disclosure is now he's home.

she told us that they have to complete risk assessments and there are only certain circumstances where they can disclose-she said because my oh doesn't have contact restrictions, unless there was a specific risk attached she wouldn't even disclose to family when we notified about the 12 hours SOR rule.



she said we can have friends/family/ children over, and go to their houses and unless it was a notifiable we didn't have to tell her or disclose to them.
my oh is part of several sports groups and goes to park runs, his visor is very happy with this.

he works where there could be apprentices, again as long as he isn't there for more than 12 hours she has said we don't have to disclose.

her words were- live your life.

I know we are very lucky to have a good visor and some do go down very hard, there is a post by pregnantandscared a while back about her oh visor stopping him working. He had no restrictions on his shpo, they contacted his visor manager and spoke to them. Detailed all the specifics of his restrictions and his visors actions, said they would put in an official complaint if needed. The manager overruled the visor and said he hadn't acted accordingly



your son did wrong and has been punished by court, the police are there to monitor him and support. Not to hand out their own punishments-I know it is scary about what could happen, but if you don't contact his manager, he will just impact your sons life with threats and unjust actions. If you contact the manager and complain-he can't then make your life worse because that is breaking his code of conduct, which you can also report him for.

Seaside

Member since
July 2022

558 posts

Posted Wed February 8, 2023 12:17pmReport post

Thank you GZ I will be contacting this guys supervisor and putting in a formal complaint.

The other thing which does concern me is that at the meeting on Thursday last week my son specifically told the other person who attended with the visor that he suffers from anxiety and had made a previous suicide attempt this is also mentioned in the PSR .

After being forced to disclose on Friday with limited time he has been distraught and I have serious concerns about his potential to self harm-at no stage did the visor even allude to the fact that perhaps he should seek help or even acknowledge that he could be at risk of self harm.

Either he hasn't bothered to read the report or is choosing to ignore it and where is the duty of care here ?- if my son god forbid had taken his life then surely some blame would be placed on the treatment he received?

Life feels over

Member since
September 2022

412 posts

Posted Wed February 8, 2023 12:35pmReport post

@Seaside as we've recently seen in the news some in positions of 'power' act unlawfully and unfairly and outside their position. This would appear to be one of those instances. I hope you get answers and appropriate acting is taken. What the Visor has done is appalling.

Generally I have found that people respond far more to email or letter sent by recorded delivery as opposed to telephone conversations. They are documented and details can't be disputed at either side. Are you able to email the supervisor to follow up your conversation? State that the email is following your conversation. Ask for a response within a timeframe. Courteous but with a 'we aren't taking this lying down' approach. Ask which governing body further concerns would be addressed to. Tell them you are seeking legal advice. My daughter always finds my emails amusing when dealing with authorities as she says I use firstly, however and furthermores lol

You are a fighter to have got this far and the fight continues. Sending the strength of a Lioness and strength to your cub xx

Seaside

Member since
July 2022

558 posts

Posted Wed February 8, 2023 2:57pmReport post

Hi Life your message made me smile as I use the same terms in my emails very often.

I'm certainly going to be emailing asking for an explanation regarding this behaviour and will not take this lying down.

As I'm of Welsh Heritage I'm more of a Dragon than a Lioness but I will always fight for my son.

Edited Wed February 8, 2023 2:59pm

BaffledB

Member since
July 2021

876 posts

Posted Wed February 8, 2023 4:07pmReport post

All jobs effectively run the risk of coming into contact with children, even nipping down to the Co-Op runs the risk of bumping into kids so his excuse is crap. If he denies it then I would threaten legal proceedings and mention witness statements will be requesting to back up your claim. Little bully boy how dare he! I hope you are your son are okay. X

Seaside

Member since
July 2022

558 posts

Posted Wed February 8, 2023 5:31pmReport post

Baffled yes exactly my thoughts he really is an obnoxious little bully and my son has suffered a lot from bullying throughout his life which was stated as a mitigating factor so I'm not going to tolerate this at all

Maij

Member since
December 2020

287 posts

Posted Wed February 8, 2023 9:44pmReport post

Post deleted by user


Edited Fri June 30, 2023 1:07am

WorseThanAnyNightmare

Member since
April 2022

82 posts

Posted Wed February 15, 2023 9:44amReport post

Seaside - how are things? Did you put in a complaint about the Visor? How is your son coping?

OH has a visit from his today and I feel sick to my stomach as now I know that some of them are far less than fair in their treatment of offenders.

Seaside

Member since
July 2022

558 posts

Posted Wed February 15, 2023 10:29amReport post

Hi worse we have a visit from the visor and probation officer today and will see how that goes but we have some pertinent questions which we will be asking him and if he is still as bullying we will be putting in a formal complaint.

We will be making it abundantly clear that we are not going to tolerate bullying and that we have taken legal advice regarding this.

I'm not going to be present as I don't trust myself to remain calm but my husband will be with my son and he will be taking notes.

Hope it goes ok for you and sending you lots of positive vibes xx

Distressed and pregnant

Member since
November 2020

994 posts

Posted Wed February 15, 2023 4:53pmReport post

How did it go today Seaside? I've been thinking of you and your son xxx

SoTired

Member since
March 2021

387 posts

Posted Thu February 16, 2023 10:16pmReport post

Post deleted by user


Edited Tue March 7, 2023 11:04pm

Seaside

Member since
July 2022

558 posts

Posted Fri February 17, 2023 8:15amReport post

So tired we had that exact phrase used to us this is obviously something that they learn and trot out to people.

The visit by the visor and probation went ok and my son was able to put his points across.

I wasn't there but am told that he was definitely given the message that we are not going to be bullied by him and when we mentioned having had legal advice he backed off.