How to Add Non-Employment Periods in Your Career History

If your prospective employer has requested reference checks for a certain period of time (for example, 3 years worth of references) but you have a gap in your employment or periods where you are unemployed, you will need to add **non-employment periods**. For the reference type you are providing, scroll down to the bottom of the page and click **Add a non-employment period**. ## What you need to add To continue, you will need to add in the following: - **How would you define this period of non-employment?** which can be selected as - Education/ Studying/ Training - Travelling - Seeking employment - Other - **Start date of this period** - **End date of this period** - **What was the reason for this period?** - Briefly explain why you were not employed during this time and why an employment reference is not available. Justifications that are private or sensitive do not need to be disclosed. ### Self-employment and freelance work Do not add self-employment or freelance work as a non-employment period. Self-employment and freelance work should be treated as employment or professional activity if that period needs to count toward the requested employment or reference coverage. ## Optional documentation After completing this above section, depending on what you picked, you will be asked to provide optional documentation for each of these types. - **Travel**: visas or boarding passes - **Seeking work**: Jobcentre or benefits letters - **Education**: enrolment or acceptance letters, or student ID - **Other**: no specific documents suggested ## Academic referees and supporting documents Documents such as a degree certificate, transcript, student ID, acceptance letter, or proof of study can be useful supporting evidence, but they do not automatically replace an academic referee if the form specifically asks for referee details. Once you’ve provided documentation or want to proceed, click **Next**. ## References you may be asked for If you’ve selected **Education/ Studying/ Training**, you will be asked to provide an **Academic Reference** for this period. This is usually someone who can confirm your time at the institution, such as a tutor, lecturer, professor, supervisor, or another appropriate academic contact. If you’ve selected any other option, you may be asked to provide a **character reference** but this depends on your employer. If Zinc asks you to enter a **reference name**, **referee**, or **character reference** after you click **Next**, this means your employer has requested a character reference for that non-employment period. In this case, the non-employment period or optional documents alone will not complete that reference requirement: you will need to add the character referee details requested in the form. If you cannot provide a character referee, contact your employer so they can review what is possible for your check. ## Submit your non-employment period 1. Once you’ve provided those details if required, move onto the next page to provide your digital signature. 2. After completing this, click **Submit** to add your non-employment period. You can repeat this process as many times as needed to complete your reference requirement by either adding more non-employment periods or adding additional references where needed.