Right to Work Checks: A Guide for UK Employers

Right to Work checks are a legal requirement for all UK employers under the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006. If you employ someone who does not have the right to work in the UK — and you cannot produce evidence that you checked — you face a significant civil penalty and potential criminal prosecution.

This guide explains your obligations, the documents you can accept, how digital checks work, and how to establish a statutory excuse that protects your business.

The legal obligation

UK law requires every employer to carry out a Right to Work check on every employee before their first day of work. There are no exemptions based on:

• The length of employment (zero-hours, temporary, and part-time workers are all covered)
• The type of work
• The nationality of the employee
• Whether the role is paid or voluntary

The obligation also applies to agency workers — though here the duty rests with the agency, not the end employer.

What a Right to Work check must establish

The check must confirm that the individual has the right to work in the UK and, where that right is time-limited, when it expires. You must:

• Obtain the relevant document(s)
• Check the document is genuine and belongs to the person presenting it
• Retain a copy and record the date the check was made

The statutory excuse lasts for the duration of the employment for those with a permanent right to work. For those with a time-limited right (e.g. a visa), a follow-up check is required before the right expires.

Accepted document types

List A — permanent right to work (one check, no repeat required)

• UK or Irish passport (current or expired)
• UK birth or adoption certificate + NI number evidence
• Certificate of registration or naturalisation as a British citizen + NI number evidence
• Permanent Residence Card (EEA nationals with indefinite leave to remain)
• Biometric Residence Permit (BRP) showing indefinite leave to remain or no time limit

List B — time-limited right to work (follow-up check required before expiry)

• Current passport or travel document with time-limited leave to enter or remain
• Current BRP with time-limited leave
• Home Office share code (for EEA nationals with UK Settled or Pre-Settled Status, or those with a visa granted via the UKVI system)
• Positive Verification Notice from the Employer Checking Service (where a document is awaited)

Digital Right to Work checks

Since April 2022, employers have been able to carry out digital Right to Work checks using certified Identity Service Providers (IDSPs) for British and Irish nationals with a valid passport. This is a significant change that removes the requirement for a physical, in-person document check for most UK and Irish hires.

How digital checks work

• The candidate uploads their passport digitally via a secure link
• The IDSP verifies the document and confirms it belongs to the person presenting it via a facial match and liveness detection
• The employer receives a result — confirmed, not confirmed, or requires manual review
• The result is stored with a timestamp and is exportable as evidence of the check

Statutory excuse via digital check

A digital Right to Work check via a certified IDSP provides the same statutory excuse as a manual check. The key requirement is that you use a provider that meets the Home Office's IDSP standard (DIATF — Digital Identity and Attributes Trust Framework).

Share codes for EEA nationals

EEA nationals who applied to the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) have been issued with Settled or Pre-Settled Status in the UK. They do not have a physical document confirming this status — instead, they share a code from the Home Office online service, which the employer uses to verify their status in real time.

• The candidate generates a share code at view-immigration-status.service.gov.uk
• The share code is valid for 90 days
• The employer enters the code and the candidate's date of birth to view their immigration status
• Settled Status = permanent right to work (no repeat check needed)
• Pre-Settled Status = time-limited right to work (follow-up check required before expiry)

InfoVetted handles share code verification as part of the digital Right to Work check flow — candidates are guided to generate and share their code as part of the InfoVetted portal process.

Record-keeping obligations

For a Right to Work check to provide a statutory excuse, you must retain:

• A copy of the document(s) checked (or the digital check result)
• A record of the date the check was carried out
• For share codes: a screenshot or download of the Home Office service result

Records must be retained for the duration of employment and for two years after employment ends. If you are audited by the Home Office, you must be able to produce this evidence.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Checking after the start date. The check must be completed before the employee starts. A check carried out on day one or later does not provide a statutory excuse.
• Accepting a document that has expired. UK and Irish passports are acceptable even if expired, but other documents (BRPs, visas) must be current.
• Not following up on time-limited rights. If an employee's right to work expires during employment, you must carry out a repeat check before the expiry date.
• Relying on a photocopy without seeing the original. For manual checks, you must see the original document (or use a certified digital check process).
• Not retaining evidence. The statutory excuse requires you to keep a copy of the check result. Verbal confirmation is not sufficient.

Right to Work and other pre-employment checks

Right to Work is typically the first check in any pre-employment screening package — confirming who someone is and that they can legally work in the UK before running additional checks. Common pairings:

• Identity Verification — standalone digital document and facial match, used where you need to verify identity separately from Right to Work
• DBS Basic — most commonly paired with Right to Work for standard pre-employment screening packages
• Work History — add employment verification to confirm the candidate's stated background

InfoVetted handles Right to Work checks digitally — no in-person appointments, no paper copies. Sign up free and run your first check today.