To refuse to send income tax history to agency?

[NextOneb]

I have been in my current job for 4.5 years.
The job I had before my current one, was with a company that went into administration.

I have secured a new job with an agency as a contractor. I am shocked at how tedious the reference process has been.

Not only has my current employer provided a satisfactory reference, as has my university and I also obtained a character reference as requested. The agency is insisting I get a reference from the company that went into administration and they have asked me to share with them my income tax and pension payment history from HMRC’s website. Aibu to not provide this, as it shows my salary history? This is more information I have been asked to disclose than, I had to share to get security clearance in a previous role…

I feel my salary history is something the agency may use to try to negotiate contractor salaries on my behalf and ie pay me less, whilst paying themselves more. I just don’t feel comfortable with this level of information. However Aibu here?

Id be asking the reason they wanted that information and telling them i was not willing to share it. There absolutely no reason for them to have it.

They are saying it is proof of employment as I can’t obtain a reference as the company doesn’t operate anymore

Can you get a copy of it and redact the income information? They don’t need that so should only need proof of employment? How long ago was the role?

Proof of employment 4.5 years ago? Why?!

Yes, redacting the income information sounds like my next steps if they insist. I left the role at the end of 2020.

There hasn’t been a reason given really. The person at the agency is sending me quite scant emails.

They mentioned that the employer specifically wants 2 employment references and it’s a mandatory requirement. But again, I feel like common sense should apply if the employer is no longer in business, and if they have satisfactory references for 4.5 out of the 5 years they need.

A quick reply along the lines of

I’m happy to provide proof of employment. For data privacy reasons, I’ll provide documentation that shows my previous employer's name and payment dates. Still, I will redact any financial details that are not necessary for work verification, in line with the GDPR.

It's then up to them to justify why they might need a specific amount. I can't see any justifiable reason they could need to see your previous earnings.

@NextOneb is P45 not enough for them?

It's understandable agencies and employers are wary of gaps in employment history. For all they know, you could have been in prison

I think redacting some info is a good compromise

What if you only have one reference? I know a handful of people who have worked for the same company for 10+ years

I don’t know, they haven’t asked for that. And to be honest I don’t think I have one from that long ago.

I don’t know how but my current employer was obviously able to verify my employment details/give me security clearance. So if I was ever sent one, I’d have no reason to keep it.

Really odd to want this for a Contractor unless its a position involving safguarding or security

I mean, I don’t have any convictions and that would have come out in the DBS checks if that was the case!

I don’t know. The person I’m dealing with just seems very stringent, I assume they would reject candidates?

I’m basically moving from one public service area to another, but my current job is a lot more sensitive than the role I’m moving to as a contractor.

If they are being this pedantic, I'd assume they would be doing an enhanced disclosure on any new starter if required in any case.

I had this question a few years ago when I started a new contract at work. The customer was requesting DBS records for all staff, including those who never leave our office or have any involvement with their business. And the staff who were in no direct contact with anyone, I argued that even staff onsite, the request didn't meet any requirements, as our work never falls under a regulated activity. I asked them to justify why they needed this information, and the reply was that it doesn't fall within scope on this occasion.

I have a genuine dislike for people just being awkward for no reason.

To be honest, I do feel like the agency is being awkward. It has put me off starting the role, because I would be paid through the agency as a contractor. So if I need to contact them over pay etc in future, they might behave just as awkwardly!

I have sent normal emails, responding to them
or asking questions and I’m getting poor responses in return. Ie questions ignored, no punctuation/capitalisation, very scant details, barely coherent.

I luckily haven’t actually provided notice at my current job and have other interviews coming up, so I might just let this one go.

Redact all the income info on it. So it shows P60 and their details as employers

I would check why they need it. At my employer we use HMRC records as an easy way to confirm past employment dates (we require the past 5 years and its far easier than requesting references or collecting other documents) however we always ask that salary information is redacted - as long as we can see the persons name and employment dates we have what we need.

Alliteratively we accept the first and last payslip, employment contract etc so you can ask if they will accept another document.

It doesn’t show P60. They basically want a print out of my personal HMRC account for the last 5 years

No. Id be telling them i can prove i was employed- by showing you a P45 or P60 thats held in my tax account. But youre not getting any income information, it will all be redacted

Are you still connected with anyone that you used to work with? Could they not provide a reference?

Did your current employer get a reference from your former employer (sorry, not sure if they went bump before or after you left), could they forward it on?

Oh, where does it show that on HMRC’s website? I can’t see any P45s or P60s there. They’ve specifically asked for the 5 years history tab on HMRC’s website (which shows income information)

If you contact HMRC (I know this is a pain) they can provide an employment history on their headed paper including dates and PAYE ref but no income figures.

It might be easier to just redact the info you can access online though.

There’s no reason these people should be needing figures.

Yes I provided a character reference, but they still want the HMRC income tax print out.

I don’t know what my current employer did. When I started with them, my previous employer had already went into administration. I don’t believe my current employer would share references others have sent them about me, to me if I asked.