Procedure for carrying out right-to-work checks You could face a civil sanction if you hire an illegal worker and have failed to properly monitor the right to work. If your employee's right to work is limited in time, you'll need to check their documents again when they're about to expire. You must ask the Home Office to verify the immigration status of an employee or potential employee if they are unable to show their documents or their immigration status online. The Home Office will send you a “positive verification notice” to confirm that the applicant has the right to work.
Read the employer's guide to right-to-work checks if you need more help. If you have questions about the application, if you are an educational provider or a student sponsor, contact the help desk for educators. You may need to check a person's criminal record, for example, if they will work in the health sector or with children. If the new employee provides a document from list A of Annex A, they will have no restrictions on their right to work in the United Kingdom. No additional controls or follow-up are required.
If the verification of the right to work was carried out correctly, the employer will have a legal excuse for the duration of the new employee's employment. There is a 3-step process to successfully perform the verification of the right to work. The employer will need to obtain the original documents from List A or List B of acceptable documents listed in Annex A.The employer must verify that the original documents provided are authentic. The employer is not expected to be an expert in fraud detection.
The document must appear authentic upon reasonable inspection. The employer will need to verify that the photograph is similar to that of the new employee and that the date of birth is correct. They should check that the expiration dates have not passed and that there are no restrictions on the proposed time and duration of the work. If the employer performs a verification of the right to work but has not done it correctly (for example, the copy of the document is undated), the employer will continue to be sanctioned with a civil sanction.
If the employer correctly verifies the right to work, he will be able to defend himself against the possibility of a civil sanction being imposed on him. If an employer knows or reasonably believes that they are hiring a new employee who has no right to work in the UK, they will have no legal excuse, regardless of whether the check was done properly. Instead, the employer will have committed a criminal offense and can be sentenced to up to 5 years in prison or an unlimited fine. If the employee is entitled to work in the United Kingdom, the employer will receive a positive verification notification from the Home Office. This will establish a legal excuse for the employer for a period of six months.
This check will need to be repeated before the six-month period expires. Employers can commission a certified identity service provider (IDSP) to complete digital controls on the right to work of British and Irish workers. As an added bonus, implementing a smooth RTW verification process will also get you off to a good start with new hires, meaning you'll be more likely to retain employees when they start working for you. You can also verify a candidate's right to work by using an identity service provider that offers identity document validation (IDVT) technology. Employers must ask all interviewees or staff members who hold a UK green card to provide an identification code when performing RTW checks.
However, there are several key pre-employment screening checks that a business owner must carry out to comply with the law. If you are found to have failed in your responsibility as an employer to perform a right to work verification, HMRC will impose a penalty notice on you. It is recommended to create a robust right to work verification process that all hiring managers are trained to follow. Annex A sets out the documents that the employer must verify before the start of employment.
British or Irish citizens must provide certain documents for verification of the right to work, but they are usually easier to find and faster to approve. More checks may be needed depending on the type of document the new employee provides. This type of verification can be used when a person is awaiting a decision from the Home Office on a pending application, or if they arrived in the United Kingdom before 1989 and do not have documentation to prove their right to work in the United Kingdom. How to verify a person's right to work will depend on several factors, such as the nationality of the worker.
