Right-to-work and work-eligibility checks in the United Kingdom
Reviewed by Mellow Editorial Team, HR & payroll content team
Before you allow anyone to start work, you must check that they have the legal right to work in the UK. Failing to do so can result in a civil penalty of up to £60,000 per illegal worker, plus potential criminal liability for knowingly employing someone without permission.
Why the check matters
A right-to-work check is a legal obligation under the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006. Its purpose is to give you a statutory excuse — a defence against a civil penalty — if it later turns out an employee did not have permission to work. The check does not guarantee immunity, but it removes liability if you followed the correct process in good faith.
The check must happen before the first day of employment, not during onboarding or at the end of a probation period. Timing is everything.
Who you need to check
Every single person you hire, regardless of nationality, needs a right-to-work check. You cannot check only workers who appear to be from overseas — that would be discriminatory under the Equality Act 2010. British and Irish citizens, settled residents, and workers with time-limited permission all go through the same initial process.
The route the check takes depends on what documents the individual holds.
The three routes to a compliant check
1. Manual document check
This applies mainly to British and Irish citizens who do not have a biometric residence permit or digital immigration status. The process is:
1. Ask the individual to provide original documents from the Home Office's accepted lists (List A for indefinite permission, List B for time-limited permission).
2. Check the document is genuine in the presence of the holder — in person or via a live video call.
3. Satisfy yourself that the document belongs to the person presenting it and that any photographs, dates of birth and expiry dates are consistent.
4. Take a clear copy (or scan) and record the date you made the check.
List A documents give you a permanent statutory excuse. List B documents require a follow-up check before the permission expires.
2. Home Office online right-to-work check
Most non-British, non-Irish nationals now have a digital immigration status rather than a physical document. They cannot provide a visa stamp or biometric card as proof — their status lives in the Home Office system. In this case:
1. Ask the worker to share their right-to-work share code, generated at gov.uk/prove-right-to-work.
2. Go to the employer checking service at gov.uk/check-job-applicant-right-to-work.
3. Enter the share code and the worker's date of birth.
4. The result page confirms what work they are permitted to do and any expiry date.
5. Save a copy of the result with the date of your check.
Do not accept a screenshot from the worker. You must run the check yourself in real time through the employer portal.
3. Employer Checking Service (ECS)
Some individuals cannot provide documents and do not yet have a share code — for example, someone with an outstanding immigration application or appeal. In this case, contact the Home Office Employer Checking Service. If the person does have permission, you will receive a Positive Verification Notice, which gives you a statutory excuse for six months. You must then carry out a follow-up check before that notice expires.
Record-keeping
Whatever route you take, keep a copy of the evidence for the duration of employment and for two years after employment ends. For online checks, save the result page, not just a note of the outcome. For manual checks, copy every page of every document you examined. Store records securely and in line with your data protection obligations under UK GDPR.
An audit trail is your protection if the Home Office ever questions a hire.
Follow-up checks and ongoing monitoring
Not every check is a one-time event. If you hired someone with time-limited permission — a student visa, a skilled worker visa, a graduate route visa — you must diarise a repeat check before their permission expires. Repeat checks follow the same process as the original. If a follow-up check reveals that permission has lapsed and you continue to employ that person, your statutory excuse disappears.
A practical approach is to add expiry dates to your HR system at the point of hiring and set a reminder at least eight weeks before they fall due. That gives you time to act if there is a complication with a renewal.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Accepting a photocopy or screenshot instead of the original document or a live online check result.
- Carrying out the check after the start date.
- Checking only workers you suspect might not have permission — selective checking creates discrimination risk.
- Forgetting to repeat the check when time-limited permission approaches expiry.
- Failing to save the actual evidence, just noting that a check was done.
If you are hiring internationally and need to understand how employment status and payroll obligations interact with right-to-work requirements, how Mellow runs payroll across six countries covers the operational side of cross-border hiring.
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