Straightforward Right to Work compliance

Employers, including, since 1 October 2026, organisations that engage individuals under a worker’s contract, as individual sub-contractors or through an online matching service, are legally required to carry out a Right to Work check before the individual starts work.

Since 1 October 2026, this legal duty has extended beyond direct employees to cover other working arrangements too, including worker’s contracts, individual sub-contractors and online matching services

While not a strict legal requirement, many employers also choose to check volunteers as good practice – particularly in safeguarding-sensitive roles – since an individual’s immigration status may still restrict their ability to volunteer.

Proving Right to Work in the UK relies on an individual providing an eligible document from List A or List B of the employers’ right to work check guidance.

An employer can ask their applicants to prove their Right to Work in different ways, depending on their onboarding process and an employee’s immigration status. Technology from a Digital Verification Service Provider (DVSPs) can support Right to Work checks. Find out more about Right to Work check services here.

Right to Work documents are proof of a person’s eligibility to work in the UK. Digital Right to Work checks can be carried out on a British or Irish passport or Irish passport card that is in date or, since 1 October 2026, up to 6 months past its expiry date (where the document’s chip can be verified). But for manual checks, many forms of identification can be used. A full list of eligible Right to Work document is available on the government website.

According to the latest government guidance on Right to work checks, there are different ways for employers to conduct compliant right to work checks:

– Manual Right to Work checks which involves checking an original, physical document.

– Digital Right to Work checks which can be carried out in partnership with a Digital Verification Service Provider (DVSP)

– Online Right to Work checks using the Home Office online verification service.

All of these methods can be supported by TrustID.

There are 3 key steps in a manually checking an employee’s documents to determine if they have the right to carry out the type of work you are offering:

• Obtain the person’s original documents. A list of acceptable documents can be found in the employers’ right to work checklist here.
• Check them in the presence of the holder (face to face, or over a live video link where you hold the original document). You must check that they are genuine, that they belong to the person presenting them and that the holder is allowed to do the type of work you are offering.
• Take a clear copy and make a record of the date of the check – this can be a hard or an electronic copy.

Some employees have an immigration status which can be checked online, including those under the EU Settlement Scheme. In that case, you may use the Home Office’s online checking service. You should still check that the photograph matches the holder and retain evidence of the check.

Holders of UK/Irish biometric passports (in date, or up to 6 months past expiry) can be checked using a RtW DVSP through the digital Right to Work Scheme.

Under the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006 and the Immigration Act 2016, every UK employer has a legal responsibility to ensure that their employees have the right to work in the UK. From 1 October 2026, this responsibility extends to other working arrangements too, under the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025.

If an employer doesn’t carry out compliant Right to Work checks and is found to have employed someone without the Right to Work, they can face a civil penalty of up to £45,000 per illegal worker for a first breach, and up to £60,000 per illegal worker for a repeat breach. In the most serious cases – where an employer knowingly employs someone without the Right to Work – this can also be a criminal offence, carrying an unlimited fine and up to 5 years’ imprisonment.

At TrustID, we are the leading provider of Right to Work check services and a trusted DVSP. Our straightforward, easy to use Right to Work checking software helps to quickly and reliably assess whether the documents you are seeing are genuine and whether they give the holder the Right to Work in the UK. Our IDVT can help with candidate onboarding, whether you make digital or physical document checks. The service is regularly updated in line with the latest guidance, meaning you no longer need to be Right to Work experts and it’s backed up by a leading team of document analysts, fully trained in global identity documents and Home Office Right to Work guidance. Results are returned within 1 working hour, 7 days a week. Our services help you to meet Medium Level of Confidence and High Level of Confidence checks, in line with GPG 45.

Discover 6 reasons to choose our services here.

A digital Right to Work check allows applicants with applicable proof of identity to verify their identity and prove their Right to Work remotely, instead of presenting physical documents to you as an employer. Under the Digital Scheme, an employer can carry out a digital Right to Work check on holders of UK & Irish biometric passports using IDVT from a Right to Work Digital Verification Service Provider (RtW DVSP). This is available to holders of in-date UK & Irish biometric passports, extending to passports up to 6 months past expiry since 1 October 2026. The RtW DVSP will share a Right to Work report for your records. Anyone with a UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) account – including those who applied to the EU Settlement scheme – is also eligible for a remote or digital Right to Work check. They can access their immigration status online through an eVisa and provide a share code to the employer for checking. Some DVSPs, including TrustID, can support an online share code check.

A Digital Verification Service Provider (DVSP), or DVSP, is a provider of identity verification services or Identity Document Validation Technology (IDVT). DVSPs are sometimes referred to as ‘identity providers’. Some DVSPs are certified to supply ID verification to specific government standards and ‘Levels of Confidence’ to support digital Right to Work checks (and Right to Rent or DBS checks). The UK Digital Identity and Attributes Trust Framework (UKDIATF) updated the terminology in the guidance. For Right to Work checks, the Home Office guidance refers to a Right to Work Digital Verification Service Provider (RtW DVSP): a DVSP registered on the OfDIA register and able to provide Right to Work checks.

Read our Right to Work glossary for more definitions.

Yes. Using a RtW DVSP is optional, since employers can still carry out manual or Home Office online checks. If you choose to check digitally, you must use a RtW DVSP registered on the OfDIA register. The employer, not the RtW DVSP, remains responsible for making sure the check is carried out as the guidance requires.

The guidance states that a Right to Work check must be carried out on all workers, regardless of their nationality and you should never make assumptions about someone’s eligibility to work in the UK.  You can check the Right to Work status of a British citizen using either a UK passport through the digital scheme or by checking a physical document from a combination of documents from List A of the Home Office UK Right to Work guidance.

TrustID can support Right to Work eligibility checks in Eire, complying with Irish employment laws. The Right to Work service streamlines Right to Work verification, depending on where the employee is actually employed by requesting the eligible documents for the region – either UK or Ireland.

Once you have seen applicable documents from your employee, you must retain a copy of them and record the date of the check. You should then store secure, unalterable copies of the documents for the duration of a person’s employment, plus two years after their employment has come to an end. You should be able to produce copies of all relevant documents if requested to do so: if you’re found to be employing a potential illegal worker and you’re unable to produce evidence of a Right to Work Check, you may be liable for a civil penalty.