Preventing Illegal Working: Employer Guide to Compliance

Your Legal Duty as an Employer

Every UK employer has a legal obligation under the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006 to prevent illegal working. That means checking that every person you employ may do the work you are offering, before they start work.

The duty applies to all employers, from large corporations to small businesses and sole traders who hire staff. It applies to all types of employment, including full-time, part-time, temporary, and agency workers.

Conducting a proper right-to-work check protects you by establishing a "statutory excuse." This means that even if it later turns out that a worker did not have the right to work, you will not face a civil penalty provided you conducted the check correctly.

How to Conduct Right-to-Work Checks

There are three methods for conducting right-to-work checks:

1. Online Check

Use the Home Office online right-to-work checking service with the employee's share code. This is now the usual check: GOV.UK says biometric residence cards and permits can no longer be accepted, and to ask for a share code instead. The code is valid for 90 calendar days from being issued and can be used as many times as needed in that time. British and Irish citizens cannot get one.

2. Manual Document Check

For employees who present physical documents (such as a British or Irish passport), you must:

1. Obtain original documents from the employee.
2. Check the documents in the employee's presence. The employer's guide allows “a physical presence in person or via a live video link”, but in both cases “you must be in physical possession of the original documents”.
3. Verify the documents are genuine, belong to the person, and allow them to do the work offered.
4. Make and retain clear copies of the documents.
5. Record the date of the check.

3. Identity Document Validation Technology (IDVT)

For British and Irish citizens with valid passports, you can use a certified Identity Service Provider (IDSP) to conduct the check digitally. This is particularly useful for remote hiring.

Follow-Up Checks

If an employee has time-limited right to work (for example, they hold a Skilled Worker visa with an expiry date), you must conduct a follow-up check before their permission expires. This ensures they have renewed their visa or obtained new permission to work.

If permission expires while an extension application made in time is outstanding, the person is covered by Section 3C leave. The Employer Checking Service is the route in that case, and a Positive Verification Notice gives a statutory excuse for 6 months from the date on it — so the check is repeated every 6 months while the application remains outstanding.

Penalties for Non-Compliance

The penalties for employing someone without the right to work are severe:

• Civil penalty. A starting amount of £45,000 per worker for a first breach and £60,000 for a repeat breach — repeat meaning a finding of illegal working within the previous three years. Reductions of £5,000 per worker apply for self-reporting and for cooperating with the investigation, and a first-breach employer that also shows effective checking practices receives a warning notice rather than a penalty
• Criminal prosecution. Up to 5 years in prison and an unlimited fine, where the employer knew or had reasonable cause to believe the person had no right to work
• Sponsor licence implications: If you hold a sponsor licence, non-compliance can lead to suspension, downgrading, or revocation of your licence.

Read our detailed guide on right-to-work check penalties for more information.

Avoiding Discrimination

The check has to be made without discriminating. The Equality Act 2010 prohibits discrimination based on race, ethnicity or nationality. This means:

• Check all employees, not just those who appear to be foreign.
• Apply the same checking process to everyone.
• Do not make assumptions about someone's right to work based on their appearance, accent, or name.
• Accept valid documents from List A or List B as specified in the guidance.

Record Keeping

You must retain copies of all right-to-work documents for the duration of employment and for 2 years after employment ends. Records should include:

• Clear copies of all documents checked
• The date the check was conducted
• For online checks, a printed or saved copy of the online check result

Good record keeping is essential for demonstrating your statutory excuse if challenged.

Sponsorship and Preventing Illegal Working

If you are a licensed sponsor, your duties go beyond basic right-to-work checks. You must also comply with your sponsor duties, including reporting changes in a worker's circumstances, monitoring attendance, and keeping records. Non-compliance affects not just your penalty risk but also your sponsor licence.

For guidance on the full audit process, see our guide to Home Office audits.

Next Steps

The rules the Home Office applies when deciding whether a statutory excuse exists are in the employer’s guide to right to work checks; the amounts are in the code of practice on preventing illegal working.

Related guides:

• Right to Work in the UK
• Right-to-Work Check Penalties
• Illegal Working Penalties
• Sponsor Licence Guide
• Hiring Overseas Workers

Questions and answers