Right to work checks, and the one thing we cannot do for you
When the check has to happen, which route applies to whom, how long to keep it, and why checking only the people you assume need it is itself unlawful.
Covers · · 6 min read
This is the one area where hospitality gets caught most often, and almost never on purpose. The checks are not difficult. They are simply time-sensitive in an industry that hires people who start on Friday.
Before they start. Not during the first week
A correct check carried out BEFORE employment begins gives you a statutory excuse — a defence against a civil penalty if it later turns out the person did not have the right to work. Carried out on day three, it gives you nothing. The timing is not an administrative preference; it is the entire protection.
Two routes, and which one applies
- British and Irish citizens: you may use Identity Document Validation Technology through a certified identity service provider, or check the passport yourself in the prescribed way.
- Everybody else: the Home Office online right to work check, using a share code. This is increasingly the ONLY option, because the Home Office now issues eVisas rather than physical documents, and a person with an eVisa has nothing to hand you.
If somebody produces a document you cannot verify, that is not a reason to improvise. It is a reason to use the online service.
Keep the copy, and keep it long enough
Retain a clear copy for the duration of the employment and for two years after it ends. A check you carried out correctly and cannot now produce is, for penalty purposes, a check you did not carry out.
Check everybody, or you have a different problem
Checking only the candidates whose name or accent made you wonder is unlawful discrimination, and the Home Office publishes a code of practice specifically about it. The safe position is also the simple one: the same check, in the same order, for every person you hire. A policy applied to everyone cannot be applied selectively to anyone.
Covers asks candidates to state their right to work, and that answer is used for MATCHING ONLY. It is self-declared, it is not verified, and it is not a right to work check. The statutory check is yours to carry out and the statutory excuse is yours to hold. No part of this product performs it, and any reading of a profile that suggests otherwise is wrong.
The current guide, which is updated often enough to be worth re-reading: Employer’s guide to right to work checks