Recruiting the right people is essential to running a successful business. Making sure they are legally permitted to carry out the work is equally important.
Right to work checks should be a clear part of your recruitment process, with responsibility assigned and records kept consistently. A well-managed process helps protect your business and gives your team confidence that recruitment is handled fairly.
Why Right to Work Checks Matter
Employers can face a civil penalty of up to £60,000 per illegal worker if they employ someone without the right to work and have not completed the required checks correctly. Employing someone while knowing, or having reasonable cause to believe, they are working illegally can also lead to criminal prosecution.
Completing the prescribed checks can establish a statutory excuse against a civil penalty. Collecting identification alone is not enough: the correct checking process matters.
How Can Employers Check Someone’s Right to Work?
The appropriate method depends on the individual’s circumstances:
Home Office online check: use the applicant’s right to work share code through the official employer service.
Manual document check: examine acceptable original documents with the applicant present and retain the required copies.
Digital identity verification: use an eligible identity verification service for British and Irish citizens, following Home Office requirements.
Physical biometric residence permits and cards are no longer acceptable for manual checks. Ask the individual for a share code instead.
What Should Your Process Include?
Complete the check before work begins. Build it into onboarding so it cannot be overlooked when recruitment is urgent.
Confirm permission for the actual role. Check any restrictions on duties or working hours, including relevant student work limits.
Keep clear evidence. Record the check date and retain the required evidence securely throughout employment and for two years after it ends.
Manage follow-up checks. Where permission is time-limited, diarise the required check before it expires. If evidence is unavailable because of a pending application or appeal, the Home Office Employer Checking Service may be needed.
Apply Checks Fairly—and Review Contractor Arrangements
Use a consistent approach for everyone. Do not make assumptions about someone’s right to work based on their name, appearance, accent or nationality.
Businesses should also review their arrangements for agency workers, individual subcontractors and labour suppliers. The Home Office guidance published on 1 October 2026 addresses wider working arrangements and potential liability within contractual chains. Calling someone “self-employed” does not, by itself, settle your responsibilities.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
A process is easier to manage when everyone understands what a completed check looks like. Common weaknesses include:
- Allowing someone to start before the check is complete.
- Saving a share code without completing the employer’s online check.
- Accepting emailed document copies as a substitute for a prescribed check.
- Missing work restrictions or follow-up dates.
- Keeping evidence without recording when it was checked.
- A checklist, named reviewer and reminder system can help turn these requirements into a dependable routine.
How DC Group Can Support Your Business
At DC Group, we help employers put practical compliance systems in place. We can support you with reviewing recruitment procedures, improving checklists and records, organising follow-up reminders, and identifying gaps in your onboarding process.
Whether you are recruiting your first employee or managing a growing workforce, we can help you build a clearer, more consistent approach to right to work checks.
Contact DC Group to discuss your right to work checking process.