Information Bite 196 Applicants Right to Work in the UK

You must check that a job applicant is allowed to work for you in the UK before you employ them. However, you must not discriminate against anyone because of where they’re from.

You can be sent to jail for 5 years and pay an unlimited fine if you’re found guilty of employing someone who you knew or had ‘reasonable cause to believe’ did not have the right to work in the UK.

This includes, for example, if you had any reason to believe that:

  • they did not have leave (permission) to enter or remain in the UK
  • their leave had expired
  • they were not allowed to do certain types of work
  • their papers were incorrect or false

If you did not do the correct checks, or you did not do them properly, you might have to pay a civil penalty (fine) of up to £20,000 for each illegal worker. Your business’s details may also be published by Immigration Enforcement as a warning to other businesses not to employ illegal workers.

If you are checking the applicant’s documents:

  1. You must see the applicant’s original documents.
  2. You must check that the documents are valid with the applicant present.
  3. You must make and keep copies of the documents and record the date you made the check.

Acceptable documents include the following:

  • A passport showing the holder, or a person named in the passport as the child of the holder, is a British citizen or a citizen of the UK and Colonies having the right of abode in the UK.
  • A passport or national identity card showing the holder, or a person named in the passport as the child of the holder, is a national of a European Economic Area country or Switzerland.
  • A Registration Certificate or Document Certifying Permanent Residence issued by the Home Office to a national of a European Economic Area country or Switzerland.
  • A Permanent Residence Card issued by the Home Office to the family member of a national of a European Economic Area country or Switzerland.
  • A current Biometric Immigration Document (Biometric Residence Permit) issued by the Home Office to the holder indicating that the person named is allowed to stay indefinitely in the UK, or has no time limit on their stay in the UK.
  • A current passport endorsed to show that the holder is exempt from immigration control, is allowed to stay indefinitely in the UK, has the right of abode in the UK, or has no time limit on their stay in the UK.
  • A current Immigration Status Document issued by the Home Office to the holder with an endorsement indicating that the named person is allowed to stay indefinitely in the UK or has no time limit on their stay in the UK, together with an official document giving the person’s permanent National Insurance number and their name issued by a Government agency or a previous employer.
  • A full birth or adoption certificate issued in the UK which includes the name(s) of at least one of the holder’s parents or adoptive parents, together with an official document giving the person’s permanent National Insurance number and their name issued by a Government agency or a previous employer.
  • A birth or adoption certificate issued in the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man or Ireland, together with an official document giving the person’s permanent National Insurance number and their name issued by a Government agency or a previous employer.
  • A certificate of registration or naturalisation as a British citizen, together with an official document giving the person’s permanent National Insurance number and their name issued by a Government agency or a previous employer.

Please see the following Home Office link for further details for Right to Work documents:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/right-to-work-checklist