Right to Work checks: 10 top tips

What is a right to work check?

All employers in the UK have a responsibility to prevent illegal working. You can do this by carrying out simple right to work checks before an individual is employed to ensure that they are not disqualified from carrying out the work in question by reason of their immigration status. This is set out in Section 15-25 of the Immigration Asylum and Nationality act 2006.  As an employer, you have a legal obligation to carry out right to work checks to ensure that your employees have the correct immigration permission to work in the UK. All employers have an obligation to prevent illegal working in the UK. By conducting the appropriate right to work check, you can establish a statutory excuse against a civil penalty in the event that an employee is found to be working illegally.

The most recent Home Office data reveals that throughout January 2025 alone, Immigration Enforcement teams descended on 828 premises, including nail bars, convenience stores, restaurants and car washes, marking a 48% rise compared to the previous January. Arrests also surged to 609, demonstrating a 73% increase from just 352 the previous year.    

More broadly, between 5 July last year and 31 January, both illegal working visits and arrests have soared by around 38% compared to the same 12 months prior. During the same period, the Home Office issued a total of 1,090 civil penalty notices. Employers could face a fine of up to £60,000 per worker if found liable.  

Consequences of failing to comply with Right to Work Regulations

Criminal prosecutions, reputational damage, operational impacts, penalties… follow our top 10 right to work checks to avoid this…

1. You must undertake right to work checks BEFORE the employee commences employment

Practical suggestion

If a prospective employee says that they will provide the documents later then you must delay their start date until they provide the documents for checking. As soon as the employee commences working you have lost your statutory excuse if it transpires that they are working illegally

2. Remember that the status of those with time limited permission must be checked online

Practical suggestion

For individuals who have a visa or any form of immigration permission, you must obtain a share code and carry out an online right to work check. You cannot accept physical evidence, such as a BRP, as evidence of right to work.

A further right-to-work check must then be completed once the worker’s new visa has been granted. Importantly, another right-to-work check needs to be put in the diary for when the next visa is due to expire. Further details can be found in the employers right to work checklist.

3. If you carry out a manual check on a right to work document (e.g. a British passport), ensure that you record the date the right to work check was carried out

Practical suggestion

Often employers will carry out a right to work check but upload the right to work documents and details to the HR system at a later date. The problem with this approach is that the date recorded on the HR system is often the date that the information was uploaded and not the date when the right to work check was actually carried out. Ensure that anyone carrying out a manual right to work check writes the following on the copy documents ‘the date this right to work check was carried out is [insert date]’ to ensure that you capture the correct date.

4. Care should be taken if outsourcing right to work checks to third-party screening providers

Practical suggestion

Many employers outsource pre-employment checks to a third-party screening provider. However, it is not possible to renounce responsibility if a third-party screening provider gets it wrong.

The ultimate responsibility for performing the right to work check remains with you as the employer. Although it may be possible to force the third-party screening provider to pay any civil penalty if there is an indemnity in the contract, this will not protect you from the reputational damage of being ‘named and shamed’ on the Home Office website or any adverse coverage in the press.

5. Consider performing regular audits of the right to work checks carried out by your third-party screening provider to ensure that they are being carried out correctly

Practical suggestion

How can you tell if a document is legitimate? Use common sense. The test is whether a reasonable person would be able to identify that the document was a forgery. You do not have to be an expert.

Pay particular attention to:

• The quality of the document – Is it in good condition? Is the print crisp and clear?
• Does any photograph match the person in front of you?
• Have any dates expired and are the dates consistent across all documents? - Pay particular attention to date of birth and place of birth.
• Is there any evidence of tampering or wear? - Are the security seals misaligned? Are the photos flush?
• Is there any unusual font or formatting?

6. Students: it is not sufficient to just check a student’s right to work documents. You also need to obtain and retain the student’s vacation and term times and keep them on file

Practical suggestion

This will inform you when a student can work full time as this is only permitted in vacation periods. You risk receiving a civil penalty if you allow a student to work over their permitted hours during term time.

Be careful during busy periods. It is very easy to ask a willing employee to work overtime during busy periods and forget that a student is only permitted to work 20 hours during term time. Ensure that all managers who can authorise overtime are aware which employees are working on student visas and have restrictions on the number of hours they are permitted to work during term time.

7. Follow up checks: you must carry out follow up checks for any migrant who has limited leave to remain (where there is an expiry date on their permission to work in the UK)

Practical suggestion

Don’t leave carrying out follow-up checks until the date that the employee’s permission expires.

Digitise your systems to ensure that reminders are generated automatically and sent to the employee in the weeks before their permission expires.

The employee reminders should state that their permission will shortly expire and they need to take steps to extend their leave and make an application to the Home Office before their existing permission expires. State that one potential outcome could be their dismissal if they cannot demonstrate that they have taken steps to extend their leave or have made some other application to the Home Office.

8. Use the Employer Checking Service if the employee or potential employee cannot show their documents or online status

Practical suggestion

The main reason why you would need to contact the Employer Checking Service (ECS) is because the employee or prospective employee has made an application to renew their visa permission, but they have not yet received a decision from the Home Office.

You would also need to contact the ECS because they:

• have an outstanding appeal or review with the Home Office
• arrived in the UK before 1989 and do not have documents to prove their immigration status or right to work

You must also ask the Home Office to check their status if they have:

• a digital or non-digital Certificate of Application that says you need to ask the Home Office to check their right to work
• an Application Registration Card

9. Indefinite leave to remain must be in a valid passport (i.e. the passport must not have expired)

Practical suggestion

Indefinite leave to remain must be in a valid passport (i.e. the passport must not have expired).

If an employee or prospective employee provides an expired overseas passport with an Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) stamp, then this is not a valid right to work document.

The employee or prospective employee will need to access their eVisa account to provide a share code. This can then be used to determine the RTW.

10. Any name changes or different names appearing on right to work documents should be acknowledged officially and evidenced by supporting documents.

Practical suggestion

You should request official documents to support any name changes or difference in names across right to work documents.

For example:

• Deed poll
• Marriage/civil partnership certificate
• Divorce decree absolute

The supporting documents must also be photocopied and a copy retained.

New/updated guidance

A of January 2025 UK home office has transitioned from physical biometric residence permits to digital eVisas. This enhances security.

The eVisa is a digital record of a person’s immigration status. This allows them to prove their right to work in the UK by generating a share code and giving this to you, so that you may carry out an online right to work check.

For new and prospective employees, you should continue to ask those who need to prove their status to use the online right to work service to generate a share code on the GOV.UK website. You can then check someone’s right to work using the share code they provide using the Home Office checking portal.

For existing employees, you will maintain a statutory excuse against a civil penalty if initial checks were undertaken in-line with the guidance that applied at the time the check was made. Only where an employee’s existing permission to stay is due to expire, as confirmed via the initial check, will you need to carry out a follow-up check to maintain a statutory excuse.  

The main change will be that if an employee has created their UKVI account and has an eVisa, even if their previous visa has expired, if they have an outstanding application, they will be able to provide a “share code” to you, as any further visa application is automatically linked to this account. In this instance, you will not need to conduct an ECS check.