New rule for employer right to work checks

Employers must now make a note of the day upon which a right to work check was conducted for each new hire, as stated in the new ‘Employer’s Guide to Right to Work Checks’.

New guidance on right to work checks was published in July by the Home Office and this new requirement will apply to right to work checks carried out from 16th May 2014.

The updated guidance states that, when performing a right to work check, an employer must make a record of the date on which they conducted their check. This can be by either making a dated declaration on the copy or by holding a separate record, securely, which can be shown to the authorities upon request.

Many employers will already be in the habit of retaining photocopied evidence of right to work documents (i.e. a British passport) and dating them at the time the record is created.

According to the new guidance, however, a date alone does not confirm the actual date upon which the check was undertaken.

In order to confirm that the date added to the record reflects the date upon which you conducted the check, we recommend that employers use the wording as stated in the guidance when labelling each right to work check record: ‘The date on which this right to work check was made: [insert date]’.

Attention should also be paid to the new illegal working offences which have been added to the document, including amendments which set out the criminal offence of employing an illegal worker,

Right to work checks are an integral component in the recruitment and employment of individuals. Compliance with the law is essential and the new guidance should be read carefully in conjunction with other Home Office Codes of Practice currently in existence for UK employers.

For further advice, please do not hesitate to contact your Smith Stone Walters advisor.