Right To Work Check: Guide For Employers

A right to work check is an assessment of whether an individual has the legal right to work in the UK.

All employers must check that their employees have the right to work in the UK before they start work.

Right to work checks can be carried out by asking for original documents, such as a passport or visa, or by an online checking service.

The document type required will depend on the employee’s nationality and immigration status.

The checks must be carried out for all new employees, regardless of their country of origin. Failure to carry them out is a criminal offence.

Employers who are found to have hired someone without the right to work in the UK can be fined up to £20,000 per employee.

Hence, an employer must prevent liability for a civil penalty, also called ‘establishing a statutory excuse against liability for a penalty.’

By doing this, employers would not have to pay any financial penalty if they are found to have employed someone without the right to work in the UK.

Page Contents

• What is the Right to Work Check?
• How to Establish a Statutory Excuse for Right to Work Checks
• How to Conduct a Manual Right to Work Check
• How to Conduct Right to Work Check using IDVT
• How to Conduct an Online Check using the Home Office Employer Checking Service
• Acceptable Documents for a Manual Right to Work Check
• How Can Immigration Advice Service Help?

A statutory excuse is an employer’s defence against liability for a civil penalty if they are found to have employed someone without the right to work in the UK.

There are three ways an employer can establish a statutory excuse:

1. Manual check of right to work.
2. Using IDVT via the services of an IDSP.
3. Checking an employee’s status on the Home Office Employer Checking Service.

The online check is a service provided by the home office online system that allows employers to check an employee’s right to work in the UK electronically.

To use the home office online service, employers need to create an account and register their organisation. Once registered, they can log in and conduct right to work checks on their employees.

The online check will confirm whether the employee has the right to work in the UK and will generate a unique reference number.

This reference number, along with the date of the check, should be recorded by the employer and kept with the employee’s other right to work documents.

The online check is only valid for 28 days from the date it is conducted. After this time, a new check will need to be carried out.

Employees who hold a Biometric Residence Card (BRC), Biometric Residence Permit (BRP) or Frontier Worker Permit (FWP) can use the online right to work check to confirm their right to work in the UK.

How does the service work?

• To use the service, employees need to log in with their unique ID number and answer some security questions.
• They will then be asked to take a photo of themselves and their right to work document using a mobile phone or webcam.
• The photo will be compared with the image on the document to confirm that it is genuine and has not been tampered with.
• The employee will then be given a unique share code, which they can provide to their employer.
• The employer will use the share code to log in and view the employee’s right to work information.

The accepted documents are in two lists: List A and List B.

An employer can carry out a manual right to work check using either a single document from List A or a combination of documents from List A and List B.

List A contains documents confirming an employee’s ongoing right to work in the UK (including those under the EU settlement scheme). These documents include:

• A passport or national identity card showing the holder is a British citizen or a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies having the right of abode in the United Kingdom.
• An immigration status document with no restriction on the period for which employment may be sought.
• A registration certificate or document certifying permanent residence issued by the Home Office to a national of a European Economic Area country or Switzerland.
• A current Biometric Immigration Document (Biometric Residence Permit).
• A birth or adoption certificate issued in the United Kingdom which includes the name(s) of at least one of the child’s parent or adoptive parent.

List B contains documents that show an employee has a limited right to work in the UK and will require a follow up check.

You will establish a time-limited statutory excuse against civil penalties if the employee provides you with one of the following:

• A passport endorsed to show that the holder is allowed to stay in the UK and engage in employment or self-employment, study, or a combination of these.
• An immigration status document endorsement allowing the holder to stay in the UK and engage in employment or self-employment, study, or a combination of these.
• A work permit or other approval to take employment issued by the Home Office.
• An Employment Authorisation Document issued by the Home Office.
• A letter issued by the Home Office to a job applicant for naturalisation as a British citizen confirming that no decision has yet been made on their application.