1919-2009 plus ca change and AC@ various
That was when The Economic League was founded to "Protect" employers from infiltration by dangerous Bolshevik elements. Just a collection of right (and very right) thinking employers and a lot of file cards. persisted till the late 70s at least.
As it happens I met a man who was in the construction industry. Solid fellow, good academics not a union man by any stretch but suddenly work dried up. Finally got a job and got to know an HR person. Some service had him down as "Trouble maker."
A database of comments where anonymous people make potentially career damaging statements with no fear of it being challenged as the poor sap doesn't know it exists.
Bit like the ECRB one on teachers I think, now it admits to allegations, not just actual convictions.
A company blacklist for company use is not unreasonable on the "Make a fool out of me once shame on you" principle. A black listing *service* however is really a tool of the gutless, spineless kind of amateur British manager. You don't know, or can't be bothered to find out how to legitimately sack someone for being genuinely useless. Or you know your in the wrong and your afraid they'll talk. "Troublemaker" is always good, or should that have perhaps read "Would not suck my c&*k when I told him to," or perhaps "Rumbled my nice little 10 yr fraud as a manager but now I'm ready to move on and I want to make sure he can't turn up at my new company and drop me in it."
Employers. 18 yrs of Tory government gave you more rights of dismissal and sharply curbed the power of unions to protest.
Managers. I meant the ones who use this sort of s@*t. You share some of the characteristics of persistent obscene phone callers or underwear thieves. You are socially inadequate and cannot deal with confrontation (posting as AC says it all).
It is likely you do not actually manage in the real sense of the term and rely on your staff knowing their jobs well enough to avoid having to ask you to make *actual* decisions. They don't love you. The real question all your staff ask themselves is "How the f^&k did you get the job in the first place.
Proper managers know they sometimes have to fire people, some of whom do not like it but do deserve to be fired, and sometimes remaining staff will not like it. If you want to be universally loved 24/7 become an entertainer.
Either grow some and learn to do the job your currently grossly over paid for or give your staff a fighting chance and lumber some other hapless company with your in-expertise.
My personal opinion is some companies performance would rise quite substantially if (in the works of Mark Reid) some managers went on the missing list.