The Home Office online right to work check grants employers a statutory excuse against civil penalties in cases of illegal working.
With the government's shift toward digitizing UK visas, it is crucial for all employers to understand the online right-to-work check process – we dig into the process below.
Understanding the Online Right to Work Check
The online right to work check service, available on the Gov website at https://www.gov.uk/view-right-to-work allows employers to verify an individual's right to work using a share code.
Note that not all employees will require an online check (the most obvious example being British citizens) and in those cases a manual right-to-work check must be conducted.
The Home Office's online service supports checks for individuals who:
- Hold a digital eVisa.
- Possess a Biometric Residence Card (BRC), Biometric Residence Permit (BRP), or Frontier Worker Permit (FWP).
For these individuals, digital proof of immigration status is mandatory, and physical documents can no longer be accepted as proof of the right to work.
NB Although we refer to the individual to be checked as an employee throughout this article, it is essential to understand that right to work checks must be carried out before the individual starts working for their employer.
Steps to carry out the online Check
1. Ask your employee to generate a Share Code at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/prove-right-to-work/get-a-share-code-online
The relevant employee must first use the online service to generate their own dedicated share code by selecting the option "Prove your right to work to an employer: get a share code".
The sharecode is a 9-character code which is valid for 90 days and can be used multiple times within this period.
NB: Share codes for right-to-work purposes always begin with the letter 'W'. Codes beginning with 'R' or 'S' are meant for other services (for example to evidence a right to rent) and cannot be used to verify work eligibility.
The employee may share their code directly or send it via email through the Home Office system. If received by email, it will come from right.to.work.service@notifications.service.gov.uk. At this stage,the employer must also obtain the employee's date of birth.
2. Use the sharecode to check the employee's right to work
Once the employee has given the employer their sharecode, the employer must use it to access the right to work details for the employee through the government's website at the following page https://www.gov.uk/view-right-to-work. The employer will need to input:
- The share code provided by the individual.
- The individual's date of birth.
Check in this context also means (perhaps obviously) that the employer must confirm that the photograph shown on the online check matches the relevant employee.
This means that the employee must either be present in person or via a video call. If the image is unclear or outdated, the employee should update their photo via the UKVI Resolution Centre.
3. Retain evidence of the check
Viewing the details from the employee's online check does not provide a statutory excuse, the employer must retain a record of the check by saving or printing the profile page, which includes:
- The applicant's photograph.
- The date the check was conducted.
These records must be stored securely for the duration of the employee's employment and for two years afterward. The employer must ensure they can be produced quickly if requested by the Home Office.
Further Considerations
Content of the check
Once the check has been completed it is important to confirm that the online check verifies the employee's eligibility to work, that they are not subject to restrictions on the type of work they can undertake and that follow up actions are taken where necessary.
For example, an employee with a student visa may be permitted to work 10 or 20 hours per week in term time. In these cases, the online check will not specify what constitutes 'term time' and the employer will need to acquire and retain formal evidence of the term dates from the educational sponsor, either directly or indirectly.
Follow-Up Checks
If an employee's right to work is time-limited, employers must repeat the verification process before the expiration of their current authorisation.
Frequently there are circumstances where the employee is still waiting for the outcome of an extension visa application in which case the online check will not register a new expiry date and the employer checking service must be used.
Right to Work checks should be taken seriously
The penalties for breaching the law on preventing illegal working are now substantial. The Home Office determines penalty levels based on whether it is the employer's first breach or a repeat violation within three years.
However, an employer's first breach can result in a £45,000 penalty per worker. Whilst a repeated breach increases the penalty to £60,000 per worker. In very serious cases, employers can be criminally sanctioned.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.