Right to work checks are the one piece of pre-employment screening that isn't optional in the UK. Every employer must verify that every new hire is legally allowed to do the work before they start, and the penalties for getting it wrong are civil fines per illegal worker, reputational damage, and in serious cases criminal liability.
What the check actually establishes
A right to work check confirms that a person is allowed to work in the UK, and under what conditions. For British and Irish citizens, that's typically evidenced by a passport. For everyone else, it means checking immigration status: a visa, settled or pre-settled status, or a work permit, including any restrictions on hours or role type.
The three routes
1. Online share code checks
Most non-UK nationals now prove status through the Home Office online service. The candidate generates a share code, and the employer checks it against the government service along with the candidate's date of birth. The result shows their status and any conditions.
2. Digital identity verification for British and Irish citizens
Employers can use certified Identity Service Providers (IDSPs) to verify valid British and Irish passports digitally, which is what makes fully remote onboarding possible without couriering passports around the country.
3. Manual document checks
The fallback: seeing original documents from the approved list, in person, checking they belong to the candidate, and keeping dated copies.
Whichever route you use, the sequence matters: check first, hire second. A check run after the start date gives you no statutory excuse for the period already worked.
The statutory excuse
Done correctly, a right to work check gives the employer a "statutory excuse", a defence against a civil penalty if the person later turns out not to have the right to work. The excuse only holds if the check was done properly and on time, and repeated before any time-limited permission expires. That's why documentation is the whole game: what was checked, when, by whom, and the evidence itself.
Where employers slip
- Checking after the start date, momentum takes over and the paperwork follows the person in the door.
- Missing expiry dates, a valid check on day one lapses silently when a visa expires eighteen months later.
- Inconsistent process, checking some candidates more carefully than others is a discrimination risk; the check must be run for everyone.
- Lost evidence, a check that can't be evidenced later might as well not have happened.
How HireCheck handles it
HireCheck's right to work check runs share-code and document routes in one flow, binds the result to a verified identity, stores date-stamped evidence for your statutory excuse, and sets expiry alerts on time-limited permissions, so the check that protects you on day one still protects you in year two.
