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.
• The copy is part of the check — not an optional extra. For a manual check, copy the document, write the date you did the check on the copy, and keep it. For an online check, save or print the result page. That copy is your evidence; the form on its own isn't enough.
• 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 — and record it here. If someone's right to work runs out on a date, book a follow-up check before that date, done the same way, and fill in the follow-up block on this form. Keeping the check current keeps your statutory excuse alive; letting it lapse loses it. If a follow-up shows their permission has ended, take advice before they work another shift.
• 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.