Current employer (of 12 years) asking now for references from previous job

Throwaway1

Hi, the school I work at has sent out an email saying that they are completing a HR compliance exercise and that they may be asking people for information. They have started sending out emails to people asking for information to 'fill in gaps'. The requests seem, to me, very unusual and I'd like to ask people's opinions on them. Some of the requests include:

- an employee who is nearing 50, who has been working at the school 12 years, has been asked this week to provide a new reference for her previous job which she left 12 years ago (they apparently didn't get one at the time). They said they contacted her old employer last week and, surprise surprise, the contact named no longer works there and so could she give them an alternative contact for that job? She only worked there part-time for a few months and no longer knows anyone who works there, and would find it embarrassing to ask them now even if she did. She has also been asked about a gap on her CV of a few months from when she was 17!

- an employee who has been working there 6 years has been asked to take in her marriage certificate to prove change of name, a change of name that took place through marriage 3 years before starting at this school and who has only ever gone by that name for the past 9 years. She thinks she showed her marriage certificate at the time of accepting the job but isn't certain. She definitely brought in some items of ID that were photocopied.

- an employee who is originally from the EU but moved to England over 20 years ago, and has Indefinite Leave to Remain, has been asked to bring in: her passport, her two marriage certificates, her divorce paper, her birth certificate and a list of every job she has ever held over the past 30+ years for both here and the EU country she originated from. She has been working within the school's Trust for 10 years.

There will be lots and lots more, but those are the ones I have heard of so far through the grapevine. Some of the employees definitely have 'faces that fit' so I don't think it's a pushing-out exercise.

Does this seem normal to ask for such historic data after employees have been working for the school for so long? Can/should the employees refuse to hand it over? Some ignored the original request and has since had emails stating 'URGENT - you must send this information by X date (next few days).' Nothing was said about what would happen if the information requested wasn't sent over.

elsien

I think you need to let the people concerned sort it out for themselves rather than speculate about people getting pushed out on the basis of gossip.

It is silly for your colleagues to be ignoring the requests and a refusal gives the impression they have something to hide. If they have the information they should share it, particularly if it comes to proving the right to work. Otherwise, they can only give what they have. If I was asked for a reference for my last job, I’d just give them the HR details. My boss has moved on and I have no other name to give, but that’s not my problem.
Compliance can be a tick box exercise but I don’t see any point in digging my heels in just for the sake of it. If you want a mark against your name, that’s the way to do it. 

Marcon

Throwaway1 said:

Hi, the school I work at has sent out an email saying that they are completing a HR compliance exercise and that they may be asking people for information. They have started sending out emails to people asking for information to 'fill in gaps'. The requests seem, to me, very unusual and I'd like to ask people's opinions on them. Some of the requests include:

- an employee who is nearing 50, who has been working at the school 12 years, has been asked this week to provide a new reference for her previous job which she left 12 years ago (they apparently didn't get one at the time). They said they contacted her old employer last week and, surprise surprise, the contact named no longer works there and so could she give them an alternative contact for that job? She only worked there part-time for a few months and no longer knows anyone who works there, and would find it embarrassing to ask them now even if she did. She has also been asked about a gap on her CV of a few months from when she was 17!

- an employee who has been working there 6 years has been asked to take in her marriage certificate to prove change of name, a change of name that took place through marriage 3 years before starting at this school and who has only ever gone by that name for the past 9 years. She thinks she showed her marriage certificate at the time of accepting the job but isn't certain. She definitely brought in some items of ID that were photocopied.

- an employee who is originally from the EU but moved to England over 20 years ago, and has Indefinite Leave to Remain, has been asked to bring in: her passport, her two marriage certificates, her divorce paper, her birth certificate and a list of every job she has ever held over the past 30+ years for both here and the EU country she originated from. She has been working within the school's Trust for 10 years.

There will be lots and lots more, but those are the ones I have heard of so far through the grapevine. Some of the employees definitely have 'faces that fit' so I don't think it's a pushing-out exercise.

Does this seem normal to ask for such historic data after employees have been working for the school for so long? Can/should the employees refuse to hand it over? Some ignored the original request and has since had emails stating 'URGENT - you must send this information by X date (next few days).' Nothing was said about what would happen if the information requested wasn't sent over.

Someone in HR has woken up to the fact that there are woeful gaps in their processes and with safeguarding such a huge issue, they are doing the right thing by trying to remedy matters now. 

Why make such a big deal of it? Probably best to focus on your own situation instead of worrying about anyone else's when they themselves may not be too bothered. One or two people might well make a fuss, but that's their prerogative and they'll have to deal with the consequences (if any) if they choose not to comply.

Savvy_Sue

And anyone struggling to provide the information requested would do better to consult their union rather than a random selection of people on t'internet. 

TELLIT01

To expect somebody who left a job 12 years previous, to be able to provide the name of an alternative contact for a reference simply shows that the HR department is utterly incompetent.  The employee in this instance should respond to them saying they have no contacts at that former employer so can't provide the requested information.

Martin_the_Unjust

TELLIT01 said:

To expect somebody who left a job 12 years previous, to be able to provide the name of an alternative contact for a reference simply shows that the HR department is utterly incompetent.  The employee in this instance should respond to them saying they have no contacts at that former employer so can't provide the requested information.

This ^ although to be fair it’s almost certainly a computer generated letter that’s gone out to all those that don’t have a check mark in a box titled‘reference received’ on some database or spreadsheet.

JReacher1

Never a good idea to just ignore requests from your employer. 

Sensible thing would be for the employees that can’t provide this information to discuss options with the HR department. 

It will just be a box ticking exercise and the people requesting this information will have been tasked to try and get it

Undervalued

JReacher1 said:

Never a good idea to just ignore requests from your employer. 

Sensible thing would be for the employees that can’t provide this information to discuss options with the HR department. 

It will just be a box ticking exercise and the people requesting this information will have been tasked to try and get it

Indeed.

Whilst it may be impractical / impossible to get a reference from a former employer many years down the line the OP should certainty attempt to do what is asked. If, as is quite likely, that is unsuccessful they should then discuss alternative options with their current company.

[Deleted User]

Provide them with the last known contact for HR and leave them to do whatever they wish from that point. I suspect they will quickly return to gossiping and nail filing.

JonVarnas

TELLIT01 said:

To expect somebody who left a job 12 years previous, to be able to provide the name of an alternative contact for a reference simply shows that the HR department is utterly incompetent.  The employee in this instance should respond to them saying they have no contacts at that former employer so can't provide the requested information.

HR departments usually are

Ath_Wat

TELLIT01 said:

To expect somebody who left a job 12 years previous, to be able to provide the name of an alternative contact for a reference simply shows that the HR department is utterly incompetent.  The employee in this instance should respond to them saying they have no contacts at that former employer so can't provide the requested information.

It's not incompetent to ask if they have a contact.  The person should indeed reply saying that they haven't, and just provide the company name and address. Their current HR can them contact them as anyone else would asking if they still hold details of the person's employment.  They don't need a named person who will write a personal reference, just a contact where they can confirm the person in question actually worked there.  As this is probably exactly what they will do, it seems premature to decry them for asking.