Think of your response to the follow up question with this situation:
For the SF-85, Employment records are obtained for listed employment which took place within a five yr timeframe.
Now that detail, 5yrs, is a measure used by investigative staff. A scoper will see the following from the form: (silly but yummy example)
2015 to present subject worked at the peanut butter co to find better ways to seal the product into a container.
1997 to 2019 worked at the chocolate co trying to come up with an eatable wrapper.
So That scoper will notice a record review needs to be scheduled for both companies because the employment falls within the five year period.
Now, when the record assignment reached the field FI or field org the task is to obtain ALL info in that record for reporting not just five years of the record.
So, you have an issue to report Which took place at the peanut butter co from 2016. Your supervisor found you putting peanut butter and chocolate together when you were experimenting on the clock to make a new candy. You were warned to never Help yourself to the peanut butter product again.
This isn’t the first time you’ve done such a thing. During 2001 you were trying to make a chocolate bar for space because you tried space ice cream and figured chocolate candy needs to be in space as well. You were caught by a coworker while you were experimenting in the employee lounge using company product. You were turned in and were given a warning - the cost of the product used for your experiment was deducted from your pay.
The two issues are reported by the field as a result of the record review.
Your SF-85 has the first issue reported because you are following what the form asks for.
Since you had an issue with peanut butter, you now have to participate in an interview.
During the interview you are asked if any other issues happed when employed. It’s not necessarily an ever question or a five year question, it’s a transparency question.
In the scenario above, there is a pattern of behavior and that nagging knowledge that the entire employment record from both employers had been reviewed - 23 years of employment reviewed thanks to a simple record request.
Best bet might be to keep the chocolate away from the peanut butter but more importantly to think about how transparent you should be.