I am due to return to my job after maternity leave and have worked with the company since December 2021. I am employed by a recruitment company, which then contracts me to an international investment bank to provide recruitment services. My role is listed as full time and permanent.
I made my HR team and manager aware in September that I would be returning on 1st December. From then, I have been subjected to new employee onboarding by the bank, requesting 5 years of tax documentation, proof of ID and an employment reference for my previous employer which I left in December 2021. I provided all information except the employer reference as this was not requested to commence employment in 2021, and the employer has since went into liquidation, and the owner is not able to be contacted.
I have no p45 or contract information for this employer as it was 4 years since I left them, I had already been cleared for employment and I have no intention of leaving my role. Unfortunately this means I will be unable to clear new background checks required for employment.
I am unsure of my next steps, but am aware that employees that have continued to work have not been expected to provide prior employment references. While this is standard procedure for new employees to join the bank account, I feel like this would be discriminatory action towards me since I did not leave my role with the bank or the recruitment company and was on protected leave due to pregnancy.
Any advice or guidance on how I should proceed would be greatly appreciated 💕