Business Immigration Services Birmingham, West Midlands
Right to work checks
Information
Right to work checks
How do you conduct a right to work check?
You should conduct a right to work check before you employ a person to ensure they are legally allowed to do the work in question for you.
If an individual's right to work is time-limited, you should conduct a follow-up check shortly before it is due to come to an end.
There are two types of right to work checks; a manual check and an online check.
Conducting either the manual check or the online check as set out in this guidance and in the Code of Practice will provide you with a statutory excuse.
Step 1 Obtain
You must obtain original documents from either List A or List B of acceptable documents at Annex A.
Step 2 Check
You must check that the documents are genuine and that the person presenting them is the prospective employee or employee, the rightful holder and allowed to do the type of work you are offering.
You must check that: 1. photographs and dates of birth are consistent across documents and with the person's appearance in order to detect impersonation; 2. expiry dates for permission to be in the UK have not passed; 3. any work restrictions to determine if they are allowed to do the type of work on offer (for students who have limited permission to work during term-times, you must also obtain, copy and retain details of their academic term and vacation times covering the duration of their period of study in the UK for which they will be employed); 4. the documents are genuine, have not been tampered with and belong to the holder; and 5. the reasons for any difference in names across documents can be explained by providing evidence (e.g. original marriage certificate, divorce decree absolute, deed poll). These supporting documents must also be photocopied and a copy retained.
Step 3 Copy
You must make a clear copy of each document in a format which cannot manually be altered and retain the copy securely: electronically or in hardcopy.
You must also retain a secure record of the date on which you made the check.
Simply writing a date on the copy document does not, in itself, confirm that this is the actual date when the check was undertaken
If you write a date on the copy document, you must also record that this is the date on which you conducted the check.
You must copy and retain copies of: 1. Passports: any page with the document expiry date, the holder's nationality, date of birth, signature, leave expiry date, biometric details, photograph and any page containing information indicating the holder has an entitlement to enter or remain in the UK (visa or entry stamp) and undertake the work in question (the front cover no longer has to be copied). 2. All other documents: the document in full, including both sides of a Biometric Residence Permit, Application Registration Card and a Residence Card (biometric format).
All copies of documents taken should be kept securely for the duration of the worker's employment and for two years afterwards
The copy must then be securely destroyed.
