Right to work check: what every UK employer must do

If you take someone on, you must check they have the right to work in the UK before they start. That is a right to work check by employer. A National Insurance number is not proof.

Do the check correctly and you get a statutory excuse: a defence if the Home Office later says that person had no permission. Do it late, skip it, or accept the wrong papers, and you can face a civil penalty. From 13 February 2024 that is up to £45,000 for a first breach and up to £60,000 for a repeat breach, per person without the right to work.

This is written for employers in England, Scotland and Wales. The check itself is UK immigration law, so the same duty applies in Northern Ireland, but other employment rules there can differ. It is information, not legal advice. For an employment dispute, call Acas on 0300 123 1100.

Check right to work as an employer: three routes

GOV.UK sets out three ways to check:

Route	Typical use	What you actually do
Online share code	Anyone with a UKVI account, eVisa, visa or settled status	They give you a code. You view the check on GOV.UK.
Manual documents	British and Irish passports, and other listed original documents	You see originals, check they are genuine, copy them and date the copy.
Digital verification provider	British and Irish citizens with a passport (or Irish passport card)	A right to work digital verification service provider (DVSP) registered with the Office for Digital Identities and Attributes checks it for you.

Pick the route that matches what the person can show. A selfie next to a passport is not a check.

You can wait until you have offered the job, but the check must be done before they start work. Treat it as the last job before kick-off, not something you tidy up in week one.

Employer right to work check share code

Most people who are not British or Irish now prove right to work with a share code, not a plastic card. The Home Office stopped issuing biometric residence permits on 31 October 2024 and replaced them with eVisas, and an expired BRP is not acceptable proof on its own: you must do the online check. People with an eVisa or other status in a UKVI account get a code and you run the employer check online.

1. Ask the person to prove their right to work on GOV.UK. They sign in to their UKVI account and create a share code.
2. They send you the code and their date of birth. A share code only lasts for a limited time, so ask for a fresh one if it has expired.
3. You view their right to work on GOV.UK. Enter the code and date of birth.
4. Check the photo matches the person in front of you (or on a live video call).
5. Read any work conditions, such as a student hour limit or a ban on certain roles.
6. Save a copy of the profile you are shown. That copy is your check, not the code itself.

If GOV.UK will not generate a share code, do not guess. Some outstanding applications need a Positive Verification Notice from the Employer Checking Service instead. Until you have that notice, you do not have a statutory excuse.

Manual checks and digital passport checks

For a manual check you must see original acceptable documents. Copies, scans and photos the candidate emails you are not enough on their own.

• Check the documents with the person there, in person or on a live video call. Either way you must have the original documents in your hands (they can post them to you).
• Compare the photo and the date of birth with the person.
• Look for obvious tampering.
• Copy the documents. Record the date of the check, either by writing “The date on which this right to work check was made: [date]” on the copy or in a separate record made at the time. A bare date on the copy is not enough.
• Keep that copy.

British and Irish citizens with a passport or Irish passport card can be checked through a right to work digital verification service provider (DVSP) registered with the Office for Digital Identities and Attributes instead. Keep the result the provider gives you.

If you are not sure a document is on the list, look it up. A British birth certificate on its own is not a right to work check.

Follow-up checks: the dates that catch people out

Some permission is unlimited. A British passport, an Irish passport or settled status with no end date does not need a later check for right to work.

Time-limited permission does. If the online profile or the documents show an end date, you must carry out a follow-up check before that date. Some Home Office notices only give you a six-month statutory excuse, then you check again.

Example. You take on Ana in a salon. Her online check shows permission until 4 March. You must complete a new check before 4 March, not on the day after. If her new share code then shows a later end date, that date becomes the next fixture on your list.

This is where small firms slip: the first check is done, the calendar is not. Gaffer works out every employee’s key dates, including right to work re-checks, and nudges you before each deadline.

What to keep, and for how long

GOV.UK expects you to keep evidence of every check. For an online check, that is the profile you printed or saved. For a manual check, that is the dated copy of the documents.

Keep the records for the whole time you employ the person and for two years after employment ends. Store them securely. They hold identity data, so treat them as you would any other personal data under UK GDPR. The ICO has guidance on that.

Check everyone in the same way

Checking only people who look or sound foreign can be unlawful discrimination. The Home Office code of practice says to apply the same process to every applicant.

• Tell every candidate, in the job advert or the offer email, that a right to work check is part of starting.
• Run the check for every person you hire, including British and Irish staff, relatives and people you have known for years.
• Do not ask some people for extra papers because of their name, accent or skin colour.
• If someone cannot show documents on day one, delay the start date. Do not let them work while you sort it later.

Casual and zero-hours work counts. If they work for you, check them first.

New from 1 October 2026. The right to work rules now also cover people on a worker’s contract, individual sub-contractors and some gig-economy arrangements, where the contract was made on or after 1 October 2026. An individual sub-contractor is someone you contract to do work that you have agreed to do for your own customer: for example, a builder bringing in a sole-trader plasterer for a client’s job. In that case you check their right to work in the same way. There is no grace period. The Home Office employer’s guide has worked examples, and a self-employed tradesperson you hire for your own premises is treated differently, so check the examples if you’re unsure.

Common mistakes

These are the errors that wipe out your statutory excuse:

• Checking after they have already started.
• Accepting a share code without completing the GOV.UK view-right-to-work page.
• Taking a photo of a passport over WhatsApp, or looking at it on a video call without having the original, and calling it a manual check.
• Ignoring work conditions on the profile (for example a student with an hour limit in term time).
• Missing the follow-up date on time-limited permission.
• Checking only some of the team.

If you discover someone has no permission, stop them working and get advice. For an employment dispute, call Acas on 0300 123 1100.

Keep the re-check dates in one place

A right to work check is not a one-off for everyone you hire. Time-limited permission becomes part of the same date list as probation, holiday and sick pay.

Gaffer works out those dates, including right to work re-checks, nudges you before each deadline and writes the policies you need. There is a 14-day free trial.

If you want the re-check dates in one place instead of a spreadsheet you last opened in March, start your 14-day free trial of Gaffer.