Previous employer ignoring reference request

[JellyBeanToes]

I worked for a company from 2017 - 2020 when I was made redundant during covid. I have worked at another company since then and have now been offered a new position at a new company. However my new employer will not give me a start date until they have recieved a reference from the company I worked for from 2017 - 2020. A reference has been requested from them 3 times and they are not responding, the old company do not have a HR department so I have to give my previous managers details (I know from the company website he still works there). I have called and left a message but also had no response.

I understand that he does not have to give me a reference but I don’t know what to do as my new job will not give me a start date until they receive the reference.

Any advice would be appreciated, thank you.

As references are pretty basic nowadays, most companies will take a screenshot of your tax info from the government gateway as proof you worked there.

What does new job suggest? Surely they can't not hire you because you can't get a reply from someone you worked for 4 years ago.
Will they accept a character reference? If it's just to prove your whereabouts for the time period could they accept tax docs as pp has mentioned?

Do you have ANY paperwork relating to these employments?

P45/P60
Salary slips/bank statements showing salary credits
Contract/welcoming letter/communications about your duties as an employee

Think outside the box!

Thank you for replying.
I have given two character references which have both been completed. I will call the new company tomorrow and offer alternatives at suggested as I have various correspondence/contract I can offer. Thank you again ☺️

Most companies? Are there stats on that do you know?

My nephew has a sort of similar issue with not being able to get a reference from a company that went out of business in covid, I'll let my brother know if that's now general practice, I've never come across it

I don't have any stats, it's based on a very small sample of me and a couple of friends applying for jobs in the last few years, references being slow and the new company just saying send us your HMRC record. How shit would it be if you worked for an employer that couldn't be bothered to supply a reference and that stopped you getting any future jobs.

That's far too long ago to expect anyone to respond. Where would you draw the line? Your new employer is being very unreasonable here, unless they're MI5.

Less than five years is fine. Do you know if your manager is still there? Is hr definitely still based there or possibly now outsourced. Ask new employer if a personal referee could do instead?

It's not something I have personal experience of, the last time I was asked for a reference for a job was about 25 years ago and I know it wasn't provided as my then ex employer had a policy of not providing references.

I know that the world of work is very different now so trying to help, thank you for explaining that most actually means a few so I don't pass on dodgy information

Make it super easy for them, write an email like this

Dear ex manager

Please can you reply to this email saying "confirmed" if you agree with the contents.

Jelly Bean worked at RandomCo from xx/dd to yy/mm

Thank you Jelly Nean

References are mainly to confirm you did work there. Most references nowadays say x worked as an admin manager between 2017 and 2020 e.g. They don't usually say anything about how reliable, trustworthy etc. you were. That's why if a reference is not supplied, they should accept tax information.

Definitely pass on the suggestion that it may suffice though. I imagine there are many ex employers that don't respond.

Some employers are very demanding with this, especially in the public sector. For my latest employer I had to provide references for my last 4 employers which meant going back 20 years! Only just managed it for the earliest by searching for my old boss on LinkedIn and asking them to confirm I had worked for him.

@MiraculousLadybug employers in certain industries can/have to be, very thorough and regulators of these industries will have their own requirements that will extend to safe recruitment.

The CQC, which regulate health and social care have very robust pre employment checks. Depending on organisation/trust, they'll expect you to know what you were doing for 6 weeks in March of 1991😂

Do you work with sensitive info OP? Or in finance? With kids or vulnerable adults? I'd probably suggest using payslips to prove you were working between x & y date, it would be no different to a basic reference.