Right to work check record

What you need to know

The plain-English guidance that comes with this document.

• Do it before they lift a finger. The check has to be done before the person starts any work — and that includes training and induction, not just their first paid shift. A check done afterwards doesn't give you the statutory excuse. Get it wrong and the civil penalty is up to £45,000 per worker for a first breach, and £60,000 for a repeat.
• Which method depends on who they are. For most people with a visa — anyone with an eVisa, a former biometric residence permit or card, or EU Settlement Scheme status — you must use the Home Office online check with a share code. Physical documents no longer count for them. For British and Irish citizens you can check an original passport by hand, or use a certified digital identity service. If you're not sure which applies, the Home Office online service will tell you.
• Check everyone the same way. Run the same check on every new starter, whatever their name, accent or background. Only checking people who "seem foreign" is race discrimination — and it's no defence against a penalty either.
• Diary the follow-up for time-limited permission. If someone's right to work runs out on a date, book a follow-up check before that date, done the same way. Keeping the check current keeps your statutory excuse alive; letting it lapse loses it.
• Keep the record and the copy — for a good while. Hold onto this record and the document copy or online-check result for the whole time the person works for you, plus two years after they leave.
• From October 2026, check contractors too. The duty to check widens from 1 October 2026 to cover some people you take on as contractors, casual or gig workers — not only employees. If you use subcontractors, bring them into this too.
• Never accept a photocopy as the original. In a manual check you must see the genuine document in person (or on a live video call with the original in hand, following the Home Office steps) — a scan or photo someone sends over isn't enough.
• Store it securely. Immigration status is sensitive personal data. Keep this in the employee's file under lock and key, or access-controlled if it's digital.
• Same across the UK. Immigration is handled UK-wide, so these checks work the same in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.