Does my employer have to provide a reference?

MortgageMeee

@giraffe69 The attitude came from the fact that if someone asks a question, it's rude to completely ignore what they've asked and start rambling about something else. It's basic decency to either respond or stay quiet, it's just wasting everyone's time so you can boost your ego by thinking you're smart and helpful (when you're not).

DoaM

Everything after post #2 is noise - the question asked was answered. It may not be what the OP wanted to hear, but it is the correct answer. OP could have simply thanked post #2 and ignored everything else, but they chose not to.

Comms69

MortgageMeee said:

I'm getting sarky with people posting irrelevant things purely to try and show off how smart and informed they are. I have a mortgage lender - I obviously don't need a broker to find me one. I've submitted a formal mortgage application - I obviously don't need comments about other forms of proof of income. If you don't know the answer to the question then don't answer. If you know the answer to a question that wasn't asked then why bring it up? 
@Snuggles Yes, I expressed very clearly to them how crucial it is. The reason for refusing keeps changing. Firstly they said it was because I might not be kept on because of Covid, I pointed out that they've renewed my contract and made no cut backs due to Covid and that they've never mentioned anything about anyone's employment being insecure - they then said "well, I don't know what the situation is but you would have been contacted if you're not being kept on". They then said that they can't provide one because of GDPR. They then said that they couldn't confirm my income (which is paid monthly on the 1st) because bank holidays and/or transactional delays might mean the payment dates aren't exact. They seem to just be avoiding it. 
I've asked them to provide a statement that they're unwilling to provide a reference so I can supply that to my lender but they've also refused to provide that.

Pretty sure i answered your question in the first reply? 

MortgageMeee

@Comms69 Yes, you did. Thank you very much. 

macman

Did you not get some form of lnitial letter which confirmed the award of your bursary, and the amount you would receive? If so, would that not suffice for your lender? It's simply a box-ticking exercise for them.

jackieblack

MortgageMeee said:

My lender absolutely, 100%, completely and totally accepts my income. They require, as part of their application process, to contact an employer reference to confirm income. They need this for me and my husband even though he has a very standard, employed, normal job. 

I have never had to supply an employers reference for a mortgage (income just confirmed by payslips/P60/bank statements) but, clearly, your lender does not ”absolutely, 100%, completely and totally” accept your income, because they require an employer’s  reference to confirm it 🤷🏻‍♀️

macman

The OP has already stated that they do not receive a payslip or P60. I already suggested bank statements: no response.
They also state that they receive a bursary but are not in academia or a PhD student. It might help if they said exactly what their employment situation is, because it's got me stumped...

getmore4less

employers are not obliged to give any reference as answered in the second post.
you can't change that but could try to get help in a strategy that would elicit the required information from them. 

Although we only have one point of reference there may be good reason why there is no reference forthcoming.

IME which may or may not extend to the OP circumstances as we don't know them
If really employed with a contract of employment  then I thought min wage rules applied independent of any grants/bursaries etc. attached to the job.

hat is not clear is if the bursary money is coming form the actual employer(or whatever capacity they are contracted) or some other funding source.

wild guess  could be teacher training or NHS 

[Deleted User]

As the recipient of the bursary presumably you are entitled to ask for a copy of the terms and conditions.
Perhaps go back to the lender and ask for the exact details required. 
Could paperwork which you already possess be sufficient?

TBagpuss

When you say 'they' refuse - is this a specific person? Is there anyone you can appeal to?
For instance, if it is HR who are refusing, do you have a manager or other senior person who might have the authority to tell them to do so? 
If it is your manager refusing, do you have an HR person you can contact? or even just someone who is senior enough to be able to make the decision to confirm the information or to tell HR/ your manager to do so?

There isn't any automatic right to require it so you can't force them, but you might be able to find a way round it. 

It does seem oddly rigid of the mortgage lender, if they are happy with the proof of your income you've already provided - if youi haven't already tried, it might be worth contacting the lender and seeing if you can speak to someone more senior to ask if there are any alternatives if the employer is unwilling to confirm the details - for instance if they have a blanket policy of not giving any kind of reference.

Good luck.