Do new employers get to know your old salary?

I really don't get what you are asking, if I don't give my old employer permission to divulge anything except my position and length of service and they do, I would assume that is a data breach.
You normally tell the new employer that you give them permission to seek references, I've personally never been told what questions will be asked in those references.

Similarly I've never directly told any former employer that I give permission for them to give any form of reference let alone which questions they can and cannot answer.

The norm is you permission the new employer with a blank cheque and they take it to your old one and ask what they want.
 
You normally tell the new employer that you give them permission to seek references, I've personally never been told what questions will be asked in those references.

Similarly I've never directly told any former employer that I give permission for them to give any form of reference let alone which questions they can and cannot answer.

The norm is you permission the new employer with a blank cheque and they take it to your old one and ask what they want.

You can't only give permission to the data requester - it has to be to the data owner.
 
You normally tell the new employer that you give them permission to seek references, I've personally never been told what questions will be asked in those references.

Similarly I've never directly told any former employer that I give permission for them to give any form of reference let alone which questions they can and cannot answer.

The norm is you permission the new employer with a blank cheque and they take it to your old one and ask what they want.

Well that's maybe the norm for you, which isn't for me.
 
I'd be mighty pissed off if any of my former employers gave out that info without my permission. Then I'd be off to see my lawyer.
Google "typical employers reference" and you find plenty of suggested reference letter templates. Pretty standard stuff for an HR dept to send out either requesting a 'reference' or providing one.

I also missed attendance record.
 
But when they ask for the payslips lol

With everything I earn, it is about 2/5 of there offer. But the p60 will say otherwise :/

Poker face lol
With a question like that I'd say you aren't ready for that jump bud!

The deal is about this one in the here and now. Not about one you made in the past with a totally different party. It is non of their business unless you make it their business.
 
When I got my current job I was asked to provide my last 3 months pay slips to the new employer, luckily I was honest!!

This sounds odd, never heard of such a situation.

You don't have to tell them but if you go via a recruiter then firstly they shouldn't/wouldn't put an under qualified candidate in front of their client and secondly the candidate should know the salary range. I had options that were not documented that I made part of my comp as otherwise it wouldn't get considered by the new employer .
 
This sounds odd, never heard of such a situation.

You don't have to tell them but if you go via a recruiter then firstly they shouldn't/wouldn't put an under qualified candidate in front of their client and secondly the candidate should know the salary range. I had options that were not documented that I made part of my comp as otherwise it wouldn't get considered by the new employer .

C'mon - you're kidding - right ? :devil:
 
This sounds odd, never heard of such a situation.

You don't have to tell them but if you go via a recruiter then firstly they shouldn't/wouldn't put an under qualified candidate in front of their client and secondly the candidate should know the salary range. I had options that were not documented that I made part of my comp as otherwise it wouldn't get considered by the new employer .

Have you not dealt with recruiters before?
 
Have you not dealt with recruiters before?

All the time, they are scum generally but my faith has been restored by a good one.

My comments were assuming they do the job to the best of their ability with all morals intact. A naive view yes.

I work in financial services Scum is everywhere!
 
You can't only give permission to the data requester - it has to be to the data owner.

No, its possible for the data subject to provide indirect permission to the data owner. Insurance does this frequently either for health/life based policies or injury based claims where the subjects permissions us directly, we then approach their GP and get what we need sharing the proof we've the data subject's permission.

I've worked for 20 companies over the years, a fair few references have been done on me. I've often had to give permission to the new employer to "get references" but have never been asked by the former employer if I'm happy for them to give a reference and I've never been informed by the new employer what questions they'll ask. I've had a few lazy former managers who just send the form to me, I fill it in, pass it back to them and they pass it to my new employer so I've known the questions in those cases (and some did ask salary) but it was only due to the abnormality of doing my own reference.

I'm curious who these employers are that ask your permission before giving a reference, must be a real ballache for them. I've worked for multinational corporations and medium sized businesses in an industry where 5 years referencing is the norm and never heard of it.
 
The new employer needs your permission to approach a referee - this is pretty obvious as you don't want this happening too soon in the process. This is not permission for your employer to divulge your salary, name of your spouse/children or any other sensitive information. As above, if this happens, you could could seek legal recourse.

In fact at my current firm (multinational) staff are forbidden from giving references, and that includes writing anything on their linkedin profile. Other firms in the same industry are taking on the same policy, to avoid the above issues.
 
This is not permission for your employer to divulge your salary, name of your spouse/children or any other sensitive information. As above, if this happens, you could could seek legal recourse.

Its permission for a reference.... thats the problem, it isn't permission for an explicit list of questions. Salary, for a company thats considering to offer you a salary, clearly could be a reasonable thing they want to know.

Agree that many companies now limit who can give references, afterall there is no benefit for the former employer to "warn" the future employer of a nightmare employee but there is a risk of being sued for libel which takes time/effort even if its ungrounded.

Being a director of my own company these days I can still do references without HR oversight and the range of questions people ask on reference forms is vast; salary isnt an uncommon one.
 
Sure - people can ask. But it should not be divulged.
 
Well we disagree then :)
We sort of disagree.... I know its asked for, I know its answered by some, I know I don't answer it when asked unless the candidate has asked me to.

Is it legal to? I'd argue it is given the broad permission the candidates given, the legitimate interest and the fact an organisation like ACAS are happy with it would all point to yes. However, again for the former employer, why take the risk? Even if it is legal you can be tied up with complaints from the likes of yourself for no benefit.
 
Asking for permission to get Reference - and who to contact for them - is a pretty standard question at interviews.... must admit I'd not really considered the Salary question till this thread as I've always been asked it at the Interview and answered honestly...
 
Let's put it this way, if the offer of the job is dependent on getting a reference from your current employer what are you going to do?
 
I've made job offers subject to references and have withdrawn some when we don't get a response to a request for a reference.
 

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