Written by Soumaya Eddridi, Associate Solicitor · SRA-regulated · Last reviewed 7 October 2026
Employing someone who does not have the right to work in the UK can have serious consequences for a business. In practice, however, many Right to Work issues arise not from deliberate non-compliance, but because the correct check was not completed or evidence of it was not properly retained.
Prefer to speak to someone now? Call our team on +44 (0)20 3588 3500, or press the Enquire button at the top of this page and we will call you back.
Below, our immigration team answer some of the most common questions businesses ask about Right to Work checks.
What is a Right to Work check?
A Right to Work check is the process an employer follows to confirm that an individual is legally permitted to work in the UK and, importantly, that they are permitted to carry out the particular work being offered.
Carrying out the correct check can provide an employer with a statutory excuse against liability for a civil penalty if it later transpires that the individual was working illegally.
When should I carry out the check?
The check should normally be completed before the individual starts work.
One of the common mistakes employers make is completing the check after the employee has already started. A late check does not retrospectively provide protection for the period before the check was carried out.
For employees with time-limited permission to work, you may also need to carry out a follow-up check.
How do I check someone’s Right to Work?
There is no single method which applies to everyone. Depending on the individual’s circumstances, the check may be carried out using:
- the Home Office online Right to Work service;
- a manual document check;
- a Digital Verification Service for eligible British and Irish citizens; or
- the Home Office Employer Checking Service in certain circumstances.
Using the wrong checking method can mean that you have not established a statutory excuse, even where the person actually has permission to work.
What is a share code?
Many individuals who hold digital immigration status can generate a Right to Work share code.
The employer uses the share code together with the individual’s date of birth to access their Right to Work information through the employer’s Home Office service.
Receiving a share code from an employee is not, by itself, a completed Right to Work check. The employer must access the Home Office service and complete the required checks.
What should I actually check?
Do not simply look for a message saying that the individual has the right to work.
You should check that:
- the photograph matches the person you are employing;
- they have permission to work in the UK;
- they are permitted to carry out the particular job you are offering; and
- there are no restrictions or conditions which affect the proposed employment.
This is particularly important where an individual’s immigration permission contains restrictions on the type or amount of work they can undertake.
Can I just keep a copy of the employee’s passport or visa?
The evidence you need to retain depends on the type of Right to Work check carried out.
For an online check, employers should retain evidence of the Home Office Right to Work profile. For a manual check, the employer must follow the Home Office requirements for obtaining, checking and copying the relevant original documents.
Simply keeping whatever immigration document an employee happens to provide may not be sufficient.
Can I accept a BRP as evidence of someone’s Right to Work?
Employers should be particularly careful with old processes involving Biometric Residence Permits (BRPs).
Where an individual’s immigration status is held digitally, the employer will generally need to check their status using the Home Office online service rather than relying on the physical BRP.
What if the employee has an outstanding visa application?
An outstanding application does not automatically mean that the individual has lost their right to work.
For example, an individual may have made an application before their previous permission expired and may continue to have permission to work while that application is being considered.
Where their Right to Work cannot be established through the usual online or manual process, the employer may need to use the Employer Checking Service.
If the Home Office confirms the person’s Right to Work, it can issue a Positive Verification Notice. Employers should remember that this protection is time-limited, and a further check may therefore be required.
Do I need to check British employees?
Yes. Right to Work checks should form part of a consistent recruitment process and should not only be carried out on people who appear or sound as though they may be from overseas.
British and Irish citizens can usually demonstrate their Right to Work through an acceptable manual document check or, where eligible, through a Digital Verification Service.
A consistent process also helps employers avoid discriminatory practices during recruitment.
What happens if someone’s visa is due to expire?
Do not wait until the last minute. Where an employee has time-limited permission, businesses should have a system for recording expiry dates and identifying when follow-up checks are required.
An immigration expiry date should trigger a review rather than an automatic assumption that employment must end. The employee may, for example, have submitted an application which allows their existing immigration conditions to continue while a decision is pending.
Who is responsible for carrying out the checks?
The task may be delegated internally to HR, recruitment or another member of staff, but the business remains responsible for ensuring that compliant checks are carried out.
For businesses holding a sponsor licence, poor Right to Work processes can also raise wider questions about the organisation’s immigration compliance systems.
What are some common Right to Work mistakes?
In our experience, problems can arise from relatively simple administrative errors, including carrying out checks after employment has started, relying on screenshots supplied by employees, failing to check work restrictions, failing to retain evidence of an online check and forgetting to carry out follow-up checks.
Another common problem is continuing to use an old Right to Work process even though the Home Office system or an employee’s immigration status has changed.
What should businesses be doing?
Right to Work compliance should not be treated as a one-off document exercise.
Businesses should have a clear process which identifies who carries out the check, when it must be completed, which checking method applies, what evidence must be retained and when a follow-up check is required.
It is also sensible to periodically audit Right to Work records rather than waiting for a Home Office compliance visit to identify gaps.
Need assistance with Right to Work compliance?
Right to Work checks can appear straightforward, but small mistakes can have significant consequences, particularly for businesses that also hold a sponsor licence.
At Saracens Solicitors, we assist businesses with Right to Work queries, sponsor compliance, internal audits and responding to Home Office compliance action.
If you are unsure whether a Right to Work check has been carried out correctly, or you have identified gaps in your existing records, it is often better to address the issue before it develops into a wider compliance problem.
Contact our immigration and employment team on +44 (0)20 3588 3500 or press Enquire at the top of this page to discuss your employees and business.
