Ensuring right to work compliance, and all your employee onboarding needs

In the United Kingdom, the right to work check is a process that employers use to verify if a person has the legal right to work and live in the UK.

Right to work checks involve verifying an individual's right to work in the UK by having the individual provide evidence of their citizenship, visa or immigration status, and employment eligibility. The specific documents that an employer can accept as evidence of an individual's right to work depend on the individual's nationality and immigration status.

Employers must carry out right to work checks on all new employees before they start work. As part of their legal obligations, they are responsible for checking the validity of documents their employees provide and retaining copies that clearly identify the individual who performed the check. These ‘signed’ copies are the employer’s evidence that they complied with the Home Office requirements and right to work legislation. Currently, the legislation requires employers to maintain the right to work check evidence for the duration of the individual's employment and for two years after their employment ends.

Failing to carry out right to work checks can result in fines and other penalties for the employer. Repeatedly failing to have employees prove right to work can result in the employer facing criminal charges and even a custodial sentence.

The UK Government’s Home Office maintain and publish the list of acceptable documents. The current list is shown below and identifies documents that can be provided on their own and those that must be provided in a specified combination:

• A passport issued by the United Kingdom or Ireland (if Ireland, the passport card is accepted)1

• A passport from another country identifying Right of Abode

• Application Registration Card

• UK Government or employer issued document identifying National Insurance No. & Birth OR Adoption Certificate, court or register office in the UK, Channel Islands, Isle of Man, Ireland OR Certificate of Registration OR Naturalisation

• Passport, University letter confirming working hours and term dates & work authorised Biometric Residence Permit OR Passport Visa OR Share Code

• Immigration status document with photo and UK Government or employer issued document identifying National Insurance No.

• Passport & Certificate of Application

• Passport & Share Code OR work authorized Visa OR Biometric Residence Permit OR University letter confirming working hours and term dates

• Application Registration Card

• UK Government or prior employer-issued document identifying their National Insurance number AND a birth or adoption certificate issued by a court or register office in the UK, Channel Islands, Isle of Man or Ireland. A certificate of registration or naturalisation may be provided in place of the birth or adoption certificate.

• A passport with a university letter confirming working hours and term dates AND a work-authorised biometric residence permit. A visa stamp in their passport authorising work or a Share Code may be provided in place of the biometric residence permit.

• An immigration status document with their photo AND a UK Government or prior employer-issued document identifying their National Insurance number.

• A passport AND a certificate of application

• A passport AND their Share Code. A visa authorising work, a biometric residence permit or a university letter confirming working hours and term dates may be provided in place of the Share Code.

• A passport (or passport card if an Irish national) issued by the United Kingdom or Ireland can be in date or expired. All non-United Kingdom or Ireland issued passports must be in date.

Identity document validation technologies (IDVT) are forms of technology that can quickly and easily assist you to establish the authenticity of documents presented for identity verification purposes, including passports, biometric resident permits, driver's licenses, and identity cards. IDVTs can play an important role in preventing the use of fraudulent documentation.

They provide higher levels of accuracy and assurance than the manual checking of documents by persons not used to checking different forms of identity documents. There are different forms of IDVT to suit the different needs of users. These consist of the following parts:

A device to scan the identity document – these include specialised passport and ID card readers, smartphones, webcams, and flatbed scanners to capture an image of the document, some of which can also read chipped documents.

Software and a template library of identity documents – the software checks the security features contained on the document and compares the image of the document against a template stored in the library. Algorithms are used to draw together the results of the checks and score them to indicate whether an identity document is authentic.

Some systems can also:

• conduct checks against other data-sources – some systems are able to conduct checks against other data sources, which can be used by the system to help verify an identity

• perform impostor checks – some systems incorporate biometric checking capabilities or other forms of technology to help prevent genuine documents from being used by impostors

• maintain secure digital records of identity documents they have checked – some IDVTs enable users to reduce their levels of paper processing and the costs of storing paper documents

• inform individuals about what data is being sought and enable them to consent and to provide an audit trail for both the individual and the relying party

IDVT is used in a variety of settings, including banking, law enforcement, employment and travel, to verify the identity of an individual.

An Identity Service Provider (IDSP) is an online service that helps manage digital identities. IDSPs provide user authentication, identity management, and data security services.

They facilitate secure online transactions by verifying the identity of users and organizations, allowing them to access secure data and applications. IDSPs also provide tools to help users protect their online identities and manage their digital activities. The UK Government, through its Digital Identity and Attributes Trust Framework has set out the rule’s organisations must adhere to in conducting secure, trustworthy identity or attribute checks.

An IDSP can become certified by verifying it meets the criteria in the current version of the trust framework. Depending on the scheme’(s) an IDSP what to join they must also adhere to those specific requirements i.e. right to work, right to rent and/or DBS schemes. IDSPs must engage with one of the selected certification bodies in order to verify their compliance and receive a certification of their compliance.

Certification is a time-limited process and IDSPs will need to undertake an annual surveillance audit and biennial recertification to remain on a list of certified IDSPs for right to work, right to rent and/or DBS schemes.

A statutory excuse is a legal principle that allows a person or party to defend themselves against a claim or accusation if they can prove that their actions were in accordance with a law or statute. Under the UK’s right to work legislation, an employer can establish a statutory excuse when they can provide evidence they have performed the right to work check in accordance with the then-published Home Office guidance. Employers can establish a statutory excuse against a civil penalty under Home Office regulations by employing any of the following methods:

• An in-person right to work check

• Employing the services of an IDSP that applies IDVT

• Using the Home Office’s passport checker, share code checking service