Is Your Business Exposed to a Right to Work Penalty?

A Right to Work (RTW) check is the process by which a UK employer verifies that a worker has legal permission to work in the UK before their first day of employment. Every UK employer must conduct these checks - regardless of company size, sector, or the nationality of their workforce. Failure to check (or failure to retain evidence of the check) means the employer has no statutory excuse and faces a civil penalty of up to £60,000 per illegal worker. Full guidance is on GOV.UK: Checking a job applicant’s right to work.

Since January 2024, the civil penalty for a first breach is up to £45,000 per illegal worker (increased from £15,000). For repeat breaches, the penalty is up to £60,000 per illegal worker (increased from £20,000). These penalties are issued by the Home Office and are enforced regardless of whether the employer knew the worker was illegal. The only defence is a statutory excuse - which requires a compliant check to have been conducted and documented before employment started.

A statutory excuse is the legal defence that protects an employer from a civil penalty even if one of their workers is later found not to have the right to work. To establish a statutory excuse, you must: (1) conduct a compliant RTW check before the worker’s first day; (2) retain a clear copy of the documents checked (or a digital record if using the online share code system or certified IDSP); and (3) for time-limited workers, conduct a follow-up check before their leave expires. If any of these steps are missed or records are lost, the statutory excuse is forfeited - even if you did the original check correctly.

You must retain copies of Right to Work documents for the duration of employment plus 2 years after employment ends. This applies to both manual paper copies and digital records. If you use a certified IDSP/IDVT service, the digital record is retained automatically. Paper copies stored without an audit trail are frequently lost or misfiled - this is one of the top reasons employers lose their statutory excuse during a Home Office inspection.

Yes. There are three compliant methods: (1) manual document inspection in person; (2) online Home Office share code check (the worker generates a share code at gov.uk/prove-right-to-work and the employer verifies it online - this creates an automatic digital record); and (3) certified IDSP/IDVT digital check using an accredited Identity Service Provider. All three methods establish a valid statutory excuse when conducted correctly.

Yes. For workers with time-limited leave (such as Skilled Worker visa holders, students, or dependants with time-limited work rights), you must conduct a follow-up check before their current leave expires. Once their leave expires, your statutory excuse lapses automatically - even if you conducted a compliant check when they were first hired. The best practice is to use automated expiry alerts rather than manual spreadsheet tracking.

Yes - for EU, EEA, and Swiss nationals who arrived in the UK after 31 December 2020, a full Right to Work check is required exactly like any other non-UK national. Their work permission must be verified via the Home Office online share code system - a physical EU passport is no longer an acceptable standalone Right to Work document for new hires. EU nationals with Settled Status or Pre-Settled Status under the EU Settlement Scheme can prove their right to work online.

A Home Office Enforcement team can visit your business with as little as 48 hours' notice - or unannounced in some cases. During the inspection, officers will: check your RTW records for all employees; look for evidence of compliant checks and properly retained copies; interview sponsored workers; and request access to your HR systems. If they identify a worker without the right to work, and you cannot produce evidence of a compliant check, a civil penalty notice will be issued.

An IDSP (Identity Service Provider) or IDVT (Identity Document Validation Technology) tool is a certified digital platform used to verify a worker’s identity remotely using the biometric chip in their passport or ID document. IDSP checks are particularly useful for employers hiring remotely or at volume. They create a tamper-proof digital audit trail and establish a statutory excuse at the highest confidence level. WorkPermitCloud's RTW app is a certified IDSP tool - try 5 free checks here.