Right to Work Checks in the UK: An Employer's Guide for 2026

A right to work check confirms, before someone starts work, that they are allowed to do the job. You check original documents, view their status online with a share code, or use a certified digital provider. Do it correctly and keep a copy, and you have a statutory excuse against a civil penalty of up to £60,000 per worker.

The rules come from the Home Office’s employer’s guide to right to work checks. The latest version is dated 1 October 2026. Below we set out what that guide asks of an employer in practice.

Why does a right to work check matter?

The law makes the employer responsible for preventing illegal working. If the Home Office finds you have employed someone who isn’t allowed to do the work, you may be liable for a civil penalty. If you did a correct check before they started, you have what the law calls a statutory excuse, and you will not have to pay that penalty.

The check protects you only if it was done in the way the Home Office prescribes. A rough look at a passport or a scanned copy emailed in by the candidate is not enough.

You cannot hand the legal responsibility to someone else. You can use a third party for the technical side, but the guide is clear that responsibility for the check stays with the employer.

When do you need to do the check?

Before the person starts work. The guide says all the steps must be completed “before employment commences” to establish a statutory excuse.

Check everyone, not just people you think might be from overseas. The guide says all prospective workers should be asked to show their right to work. It also says you cannot dictate which method someone uses. The point is to avoid discrimination, so give every candidate a reasonable chance to prove their right to work.

What changed on 1 October 2026?

The Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025 widened who counts as an “employer” for right to work purposes. From 1 October 2026 the scheme can also cover:

• people engaged under a worker’s contract
• individual sub-contractors
• people offered to customers through an online matching service

There are also new rules on “extended liability” in some supply chains and where a contract allows substitution. If you use workers or sub-contractors as well as employees, read section 3 of the guide carefully. The guide says there is no general grace period for these new requirements.

What are the three ways to check someone’s right to work?

Method	Who it suits	What you do
Manual document check	Anyone with acceptable original documents, including British and Irish citizens	Check the originals with the holder present, copy them, record the date
Home Office online check	People with an eVisa or other digital status (not British or Irish citizens)	Enter their share code and date of birth, check the photo, save the result
Digital verification service provider (DVSP)	Holders of British or Irish passports (or Irish passport cards)	Use a certified provider, check its output matches the person, keep the output

1. Manual document check

The guide sets out the steps:

1. Obtain original documents from List A or List B of the acceptable documents list.
2. Check them while you physically hold them and the holder is present, in person or on a live video call. Make sure they look genuine, the photos and dates of birth match the person, any permission hasn’t expired, and the job fits any work restrictions (for example, limited hours for students).
3. Copy each document clearly, in a form that can’t be altered. For passports, that means the pages showing expiry, nationality, date of birth, photo and any UK permission. You don’t need the front cover.
4. Record the date of the check, for example by writing “The date on which this right to work check was made: [date]” on the copy, or by keeping a separate record. Just writing a date on the copy is not enough.

If names differ between documents, ask for evidence such as a marriage certificate or deed poll.

GOV.UK’s checking page adds that you can no longer accept biometric residence cards or permits. Ask for a share code instead.

2. Home Office online check with a share code

Many people now hold an eVisa, which the guide describes as an online record of a person’s immigration status and conditions. The Home Office started issuing eVisas in 2018 and widened the rollout in 2024. Someone with an eVisa can only prove their right to work through the online service.

To do an online check you need the person’s share code and date of birth. Things to know:

• A right to work share code is 9 characters and starts with W. Codes starting with R are for other purposes and can’t be used.
• Share codes are valid for 90 calendar days from issue.
• You must use the employer-facing service yourself. Looking at what the worker sees on their own account, or a printout of it, is not a valid check.
• Check that the photo on the result is the person in front of you, in person or on a video call.
• Save a PDF or HTML copy of the profile page. It shows the photo and the date of the check.

British and Irish citizens can’t get a share code, so for them you use a manual check or a DVSP.

3. Using a certified digital verification service provider

A Right to Work DVSP (the guide’s term; you may also see “IDVT”, identity document validation technology) can do digital checks on valid British or Irish passports and Irish passport cards. That includes documents up to 6 months past expiry, if the provider offers it. Choose a provider listed on the Office for Digital Identities and Attributes register.

The employer still carries the legal risk. You must check that the photo and details in the provider’s report match the person, and keep a copy of that report. If a candidate doesn’t want a digital check, you must offer a manual check instead and must not treat them less favourably.

When do you need a follow-up check?

If someone’s permission to work is time-limited, check again on or before the date it ends. The follow-up check doesn’t have to use the same method as the first one.

You don’t need follow-up checks for people whose first check showed settled status, status under the EU Settlement Scheme, or a continuous right to work (such as British or Irish citizens).

If someone has applied to extend their permission before it ran out and is waiting for a decision, they may still be allowed to work. In that case you can use the Home Office Employer Checking Service. Your statutory excuse continues for up to 28 calendar days while you get a Positive Verification Notice. This 28-day grace period does not apply to people who haven’t started yet.

We recommend setting a payroll or HR reminder well before each expiry date. A missed follow-up check is one of the easiest ways to lose a statutory excuse.

What records do you need to keep?

For every check, keep:

• a clear copy of each document, the online check result, or the DVSP report
• any facial recognition comparison, if one was used
• the date the check was done

Keep these for the whole of the employment and for two years after it ends, then securely destroy them. Store them in line with data protection law, and make sure you can produce them quickly if the Home Office asks.

If you sponsor workers, these records also matter for your sponsor licence. Keeping evidence of right to work checks is one of the duties listed in our sponsor licence application guide.

What happens if you get it wrong?

According to GOV.UK’s penalties page and the employer’s guide:

• Civil penalty: up to £60,000 for each illegal worker, worked out case by case.
• Criminal offence: knowingly employing an illegal worker, or having reasonable cause to believe they are one, can lead to up to five years in prison and an unlimited fine.
• Other consequences: your business can be named publicly, closed, or put under a compliance order. Directors can be disqualified. You may lose a sponsor licence or be unable to get one, and licences in the alcohol, late-night refreshment and taxi sectors can be reviewed.

If you have a correct check on file, you won’t pay the civil penalty, even if the person later turns out not to have had the right to work. The exception is where it was reasonably obvious that a document was false or didn’t belong to them.

How we handle right to work checks

When we employ people for clients as an employer of record, we are the legal employer. That means the right to work check, follow-up reminders and record keeping sit with us, alongside payroll and contracts. If you’re hiring in the UK without a UK company, see our employer of record service. If you need to bring someone in from overseas, our sponsor licence support covers the process side. For individual immigration questions, a regulated adviser or solicitor is the right person to ask.