Reference denied as over six years?

[redstar]

Have background check for promotion need references again ..yes I know but it's protocol ten years background .. need reference told no they don't hold data for anything over six years , seriously I have had companies go beyond and confirm worked for them longer than ten years ago ..is this legal refusal of confirmation you were employed by them.. incidentally no drama good work just left due to pay and hours .. can they decline reference saying they don't hold you're data after six years ?? Doesn't sound right and now jepordasing me to current employer.. as honest said when I worked with them for background check ..wow ..anyone clarify please?

[atticus]

I do not believe that there is any obligation to give a reference.

Might you be able to locate a reference previously given by this former employer?

[ULA]

Six years for keeping employee records is the general guideline. There is no legal obligation to keep them longer.

[PallasAthena]

I believe that the government, HMRC, only require companies to keep records of tax and pay for 6 years but may keep records longer than that.

Is your old employer able at least to confirm that you did in fact work for them, even if they are no longer able to give a reference as such?

[Presonus]

I couldn't get references in my current role not strictly because of time served, but they (the last company) were just a badly organised company who didn't really care about digging it out and couldn't find the records - in the end my new company just had me sign a declaration of honesty which seemed a fairly standard issue form.

A company doesn't have to (and arguably shouldn't even if it wanted to) store your data any longer than it's legally required to. Also even managers change jobs so people won't even know who you were, so it's realistically unreasonable to be able to get a reference *for life*. Hiring businesses should have a process with managing this realism.