Everyone in this thread has NOT received their OWP, that's why I created this thread so we can all be in this together and voice our concerns, heartache, and progress on the matter. For some, they have been able to link and have received word that they don't meet the requirements for early approval when they clearly do...and for others like us...they haven't even looked at it yet!
No you do not need to provide proof of past employment.
If you haven't been able to link it's because the application isn't in the system yet and they haven't even begun to process it. This is the situation i'm in. This is very VERY unusual at this point as it's been over 5 months for me.
In any case, I have and others have in this thread reached out to their MP and that's the way to go as there's nothing else you can do. Don't trust what the call centre or the web form responses tell you as they aren't properly trained to give any answers as to "why". An MP however can request more detailed information/status directly to the officer in charge of the application so that's why it's a good idea to contact them and get them to look into it. My MP said that it's so unusual that they haven't even opened mine yet that there's a good chance the application was actually lost! (OWP applications are taken out of our PR packages and sent to another office for processing). I'll update everyone here once I have word.