Right to Work Checks: What Employers Still Get Wrong

Most employers know they have to check someone’s Right to Work. Fewer do it in a way that would actually stand up if the Home Office asked questions six months later. The process looks simple until someone starts on a Student visa, then switches, then renews — and the file still shows the first passport scan from day one.

Civil penalties are not theoretical. They are also avoidable if you treat checks as part of onboarding and follow-up, not a box ticked on the first morning.

• Accepting a photo of a document instead of following the prescribed check
• Not repeating checks when leave is time-limited
• Ignoring name changes, new passports or eVisa updates
• Assuming a previous employer’s check is enough
• No clear record of who checked, when, and what was seen

If you hold a sponsor licence, Right to Work sits alongside your sponsorship duties. A weak file on day one can become a wider compliance problem later — especially if UKVI visits and asks for migrant worker records.

You do not need a huge HR team. You do need a repeatable method: who checks, what they check against, how you diary follow-ups, and where the evidence lives.

Train whoever does your onboarding. Keep templates short. Diary the expiry dates. If someone’s status is about to change — Student to Skilled Worker, extension pending — flag it early rather than discovering it on their first day back after leave.

If you are unsure whether your current process would survive a spot check, we can review it with you. Better to tighten it now than explain gaps under pressure.