Everything You Need to Know About UK Right to Work Checks
11th October 2024
- Categories: Business, Compliance, General, HR, News, Sponsor licence, Visas
Why are Right to Work Checks important?
In the UK, employers have a legal responsibility to ensure that their employees are entitled to work, this is known as a right to work check. These checks are a critical part of compliance for businesses, helping to prevent illegal working, civil penalty fines, and reputational damage. In this blog, we’ll cover everything you need to know about right to work checks—what they are, when to do them, why they are important, who they apply to, and how to perform them correctly.
What is a Right to Work Check?
A right to work check is a process conducted by employers to verify that a potential employee is legally allowed to work in the UK. The check involves confirming the individual’s immigration status and ensuring they have the necessary documents to prove their eligibility to work. This important check forms part of the employer’s duty to prevent illegal working and can protect employers from significant financial penalties; failure to complete the right to work check can jeopardise sponsorship and the businesses reputational standing. right to work checks can also be helpful for employers to understand any work conditions and restrictions in place on an individual because of their immigration status.
The UK government requires these checks to be completed before employment begins, and in some cases, follow-up checks are needed during employment if the individual’s right to work is time-limited.
When to do a Right to Work Check?
- A right to work check should be done at two key points in the employment process:
Before employment begins: All prospective employees, regardless of nationality or immigration status, must undergo a Right to Work check before starting their role. Employers should conduct these checks during the recruitment process or as part of the onboarding procedure. - Follow-up checks (where applicable): If an employee’s permission to work in the UK is time-limited (such as those on a visa), employers must conduct follow-up checks before their existing permission expires. Failing to carry out follow-up checks can result in penalties if the individual continues to work illegally.
Why do a Right to Work Check?
Right to work checks are important for the following reasons:
Avoiding civil penalties – employers who fail to conduct the correct right to work check will not have a statutory excuse if one of their employees is found to be illegally working. This can leave employers liable to civil penalties of up to £60,000 per illegal worker. Employers can also face criminal charges if serious breaches are found. Carrying out the correct type of right to work check means that you will have a statutory excuse against any civil penalties even if one of your employees has been working for you illegally.
Sponsor licence compliance – carrying out the correct right to work checks on both your sponsored and non-sponsored employees is one of your compliance duties as a sponsor. Incurring civil penalties for illegal working will likely result in your licence being suspended or revoked.
Who to do Right to Work Checks on?
All employees must be subject to a right to work check, including UK nationals. The type of right to work check you will need to conduct will depend upon a person’s immigration status and circumstances.
How to do a Right to Work Check?
The checking process used to be simple , but now there are different types of right to work checks for different immigration status’. Some of the most common checks are:
Manual checks – for some individuals, for example for British and Irish citizens, you can carry out a manual check of their documents such as checking their passport or an immigration document in order to establish their right to work.
Online right to work checks – many people in the UK with a temporary leave to remain such as sponsored workers who have either a BRP or e-visa will need to have an online right to work check conducted for them. They must generate a share code which they must give to their prospective employer who can then use the share code to carry out an online right to work check.
Employer’s Checking Service (ECS) – certain individuals cannot have a manual or online right to work check carried out for them. This includes those who hold an ARC card, certain EUSS applicants, those with an outstanding visa application and when you as the employer are not provided with any documents which can be used to conduct a check. In these instances, you can contact the ECS to do a check for you, these checks can take up to 5 working days.
Right to work checks are a legal necessity for all UK employers. Conducting these checks correctly not only ensures compliance with immigration law but also protects businesses from potential penalties and damage to their reputation
Most BRP holders will need to generate a share code so their employer can conduct a right to work check. This means that a copy of the physical document will not always provide the employer with a statutory excuse. The majority of BRP’s will be expiring on 31st December 2024 and this does not reflect on the actual visa expiry.
You can do a manual right to work check on the vignette contained in the person’s passport which they used to enter into the UK. However, this vignette is only valid for 90 days therefore, a new online right to work check will need to be conducted before the 90 day expiry.
It is a requirement that right to work checks are conducted before an employee begins work in order to be protected from a civil penalty. However, you should conduct the check as soon as you have become aware that it has not been done.
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