Changes in right to work checks from 1 October 2022
- Employment Law
- 26th Oct 2022
Gareth Matthews, Head of Employment, summarises the changes in right to work checks that must be conducted by employers, which came into force earlier this month. From 1 October 2022, employers must conduct right to work checks in one of the following three ways: • Online • Manually • Using an Identity Service Provider The […]
By Gareth Matthews
MLP Law
Gareth Matthews, Head of Employment, summarises the changes in right to work checks that must be conducted by employers, which came into force earlier this month.
From 1 October 2022, employers must conduct right to work checks in one of the following three ways:
• Online
• Manually
• Using an Identity Service Provider
The method used by an employer will depend on the immigration status of the employee.
|
Immigration Status |
Checking Method |
|
Biometric Residence Permit (BRP), Biometric Residence Card (BRC) and Frontier Worker Permit holders
|
Online |
| Those with e-visas (for example, EU Settled Status, EU Pre-settled Status, or those who applied for UK immigration permission using the UK Immigration: ID Check app)
|
Online |
| Those not eligible for online checks (for example, valid British and Irish passport holders) | Manual or using an Identity Service Provider. |
From 30 September 2022, employers will no longer be able to conduct checks over video call or accept scans or photographs of documents (the original will need to be examined).
To ensure compliance with the new right to work checks, employers should:
• Decide whether it is worth using an Identity Service Provider. This decision will be based on the number of international employees working for the organisation and the rate of staff turnover.
• Draw up policies and procedures for line managers and HR personnel to follow when making manual or online right to work checks and detail which method should be used in any particular circumstance.
It is imperative to conduct right to work checks correctly as the maximum civil penalty for a breach is £20,000 for each individual who does not have the right to work.
If you would like advice from the Employment team at MLP Law in respect of any of the issues raised here or more generally, please do not hesitate to get in touch on 0161 926 9969 or employment@mlplaw.co.uk, or follow us on Twitter @HRHeroUK
About the expert
Stephen Attree
Managing Partner
Stephen is the Owner of MLP Law and leads our Commercial, IP and Dispute Resolution teams which provide advice on all aspects of the law relating to mergers, acquisitions, financing, re-structuring, complex commercial contracts, standard trading terms, share options, shareholder and partnership agreements, commercial dispute resolution, joint venture and partnering arrangements, IT and Technology law, Intellectual Property, EU and competition law, Brexit and GDPR.
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