What Employers need to know about October’s digital right to work check changes

The hiring company (the employer) always needs to do right to work checks prior to a worker starts work. As a Recruiter, we ask candidates to take this ID to interviews so you can do your company checks for right to work. There are some changes from 1st October 2022, which will affect clients who do remote interviews.

What is right to work checks

The Employer (the person who employs the person and pays the wages)  are responsible for checking ID to ensure the person has right to work in the UK. This normally is a passport   or a passport with visa papers. If the person is a UK national and does not have a passport, it is a birth certificate with a photo ID. You are not allowed to have anyone working without checking the ID. You also need to keep copies as proof you have done this.

What changes from 1st October 2022

From 1 October this year, right to work checks will change meaning employers will only be able to hire applicants by meeting them face-to-face or using ID validation technology to check hiring documents. From this date, businesses must keep records of hiring documents for up to two years after an employee’s exit date.

These changes to digital checks were introduced in April 2022, it is from October that new employees/applicants will no longer be able to send their right to work documents to an employer via email to verify they can legally work.

This is for British and Irish candidates, the government does have a additional checking system in place for Visa’s / sponsorship etc.  You also need to do keep copies of ID and keep records.

Can I do only zoom interviews and not meet someone before they start?

Employees can not start working until you have checked the ID either in person or using a digital checking system. Having 1st stage on zoom and then 2nd stage in person to do ID checks and show them the offices/place of work.

View this link for the government website for all the information on right to work checks [more]

HtE Recruitment News & Insights

This news and insights page has been written by Rick our Director. This is based from information on the Government website, we are not offering any legal advise, this is only to promote the new changes to make awareness of them. We would ask all employers to search the government website and do your own research on what this means for your business. To decide the best way forward for you.  HtE Recruitment take no responsibility for this post.