Companies have launched a database which allows them to share details of employees accused of dishonesty at work.

The National Staff Dismissal Register lets firms log details of staff caught stealing, committing fraud or damaging company property.

Other companies can then use the database to check job applicants' history.

Trade Unions and Civil Liberties groups condemned the move. GMB General Secretary Paul Kenny said: "There will be an enormous kick back against this and GMB as the major union for shop workers will lead the charge."

But organisers Action Against Business Crime said the database complied with data protection laws and said 99% of people logged would have their details removed after three years.

Chief executive Mike Schuck said workers put on the database would also be allowed to check what information was held about them.

He said: "This is no blacklist. Not everybody who has been dismissed will go on the database.

"Nobody will go on for stealing a £5 T-shirt. But if they have stolen many £25 T-shirts over a period of time, and they have shown a system and planning and conspiracy they will finish up on the database."

The database will hold details of people not prosecuted or found guilty in court of the allegations made against them, he said. But he said the maximum time someone would be held on the register would be five years - except in exceptional circumstances.

He said employers signed up to the scheme include Harrods, Selfridges and Reed Employment but he hoped it would expand to include businesses in construction, leisure and tourism. The information will be encrypted and password protected, he said.