Does a previous employer have to send you back some payslips if you make the request ?

Obliged to keep them for 9 or 10 years? Not a hope.

Why would you need payslips from 10 years ago to verify employment - that's ridiculous.

Please don't embarrass yourself by asking your old employer to dig out payslips from 10 years ago. They will think you are absolutely nuts - that's after they stop laughing.

Qwerty honestly there is no need for you to store all this information regarding payslips. Im guessing you keep all your bills, banks statements etc too. You only need to really keep them for 7 years. Do you not have emails or contracts to support your evidence of work if you really need it? Im picturing your office or spare bedroom looking like this ( only joking!).

There are jobs in certain sectors where it is important that your work history for the previous ten years is verifiable.

Employers in these sectors certain hold on to employee data for longer than 7 years. And it's quite legal for them to do so, because they have a valid business reason for keeping the data.

Now they might not keep the details right down to individual payslips. But they will have some very granular-level data, eg which patients you operated on, which accounts you updated, etc.

I was prompted by the thread to go through my own archive. How long are primary schools required to keep copies of school reports? I’m missing 2nd-4th class, 1981-85.

What job sectors need to see your payslips for the last 10 years - Your talking nonsense.

Contracts would show your work history if needed or your work history can be confirmed by looking at the 'my account' service on revenue on line

I didn't say payslips, I said verifiable work history.

For one particular finance sector job, I had to provide written statements of service for 10 years, and was told that the relevant HR departments would be phoned and asked to confirm the details. (And of course to do that, the HR department must hold the records).

I have hands-on awareness of health sector jobs where there's a similar requirement to verify the last three employments, no matter how long ago they were.