People who work for MI5 etc...how do they get mortgages etc where the employer details are asked for

[cakeorwine]

Inspired by another thread.

I assume people who work where they can't divulge who they work for have cover stories. But do the cover stories have "proper" employers with Pay slips, NI numbers etc - so if you had to apply for a mortgage, credit, renting etc, the person enquiring could see a pay slip and say, ok, I'll give you credit.

Are there "switchboards" so someone answering the phone call knows how to answer to say the company name?

Even James Bond needs a place to live and a credit history.

If you work for MI5 you're a civil servant, right? So presumably you'll be provided with all the paperwork for a different part of the civil service. I have no idea really though.

The Civil Service is very good at being bland and unassuming....

I assume you say you are a civil servant and produce payslips like anyone else.

I don’t work for that type of organisation (or do I…?), but I imagine there would be some sort of generic civil service documentation.

I would imagine they are probably housed as a benefit and perhaps they have private accounts lines of credit for mobiles loans etc.

I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you.

I’d assume most people are employed as “civil servants” with a boring job title at GCHQ and proper payslips tbh. If they were off doing something exciting a cover story would be created but you’d then return to normal life.

I have a very strange imagination though according to much more rational suggestions in hindsight though!

I know someone whose husband worked for the Foreign Office and apparently people who were MI5/MI6 were told to say they were Foreign Office employees if anyone asked.

I wonder what the expense claims form looks like?

You are a civil servant and your pay slips reflect this, on this count it's no different from any other government employee

They probably come under The MOD

A friend works for GCHQ. He never speaks about his job. I only know because I wrote a reference when he first applied. They came back twice (it definitely said GCHQ), I think at around 5 and 10 years later with the same quite long form. I know he bought and sold a couple of times during that period and has been on secondment for five years abroad. I did not and do not know what he does but his qualifications are in computing.

I'm sure in Spooks someone being described at their funeral as working for the Ministry of Fisheries or some other civil service department. The kind of job people ask what you do, you answer, they find the answer boring and don't ask any more questions!

Well if it’s bog standard across civil service then there is a drop down list of acceptable expenditure. You select the right one and upload receipt.

My BIL works at GCHQ, as did a friend who has now moved to a role at Porton Down - both in IT and they never discuss their roles. Neither are they allowed to have any Social Media profiles either. I believe officially they are Civil Servants.

I wonder if they’re unionised and how HR works?

Obviously things like maternity leave must be protected in law? I wonder what laws govern their operational remit and exceptions? 🤔 wish we could do an AMA!
Edit: they do have a union and employee protections 😅

MI5/6 presumably must have support staff that do the “boring stuff” like HR, payroll etc. maybe they just get a job title and payslips for something similar so that it’s uninteresting.

Of course they're unionised! All CSs can join a union - which one depends on grade. HR works the same as any other HR - why wouldn't it? Maternity or sick pay still get paid, appraisals done etc.

MI5 is an agency of the Home Office, so payslips would come from them, MI6 an agency of the FCO, so payslips come from them - no problem with showing these for a mortgage application.

MI5 is an agency of the Home Office, so payslips would come from them, MI6 an agency of the FCO, so payslips come from them - no problem with showing these for a mortgage application

A very straight-forward (but sadly boring) explanation :)

Years ago I gave a reference for a student who had applied to the CS and had to do a follow up telephone security reference/check for them with the MoD. It was the most fun I have had doing a reference, and the questions made me suspect it was not a standard admin role!

Payslips are very generic. Just say Home Office, HMRC etc, they don't have job titles etc on.

Foreign Office is the traditional cover

There was a period 1984 to 1997 where GCHQ (and probably MI5 and MI6) were banned from joining trade unions. https://www.fda.org.uk/news/march-and-rally-to-mark-40th-anniversary-of-trade-union-ban-at-gchq-cheltenham-saturday-27-january/