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Checking Right to Work During the Covid-19 Crisis
Every employer has a duty to ensure that all its employees have the right to work in the UK, either by virtue of their British Citizenship, or as a term of their right to remain. It is a criminal offence to knowingly employ someone who has no right to work in the UK, so it is important that checks are carried out in line with government guidelines. This would normally involve meeting the employee and checking their original documents, however in light of the logistical difficulties involved in this arising from the Covid-19 crisis the Home Office has made some adjustments to make carrying out these checks easier. In order to carry out checks safely during the Covid-19 crisis the following adjustments have been made:
- You can ask the worker to submit scanned copies of their original documents by email instead of checking in person.
- You can arrange a video chat over Skype, Zoom or a similar app in which the worker can hold their documents up to the camera for you to check.
- If the worker has a BRP, Biometric Residence Card or status under the EU settlement scheme you can use the online right to work checking service while doing a video call with the applicant. The applicant will need to give their permission for you to view their details.
- You should record the date you carried out one of the above checks and mark it as ‘adjusted check undertaken on [insert date] due to Covid-19.
If the worker cannot show their documents you must contact the Home Office Employer Checking Service which will provide you with a ‘Positive Verification Notice’, giving you a 6 month statutory excuse if the person is found to have the right to work.
When the Covid-19 measures end you will have to follow the checking process set out in the government’s right to work checks: an employer’s guide. You will have to perform retrospective checks on employees who started working for you or required a follow-up check during these measures unless you did the check in the manner prescribed in the employers guide with no adjustments. This check must be performed within 8 weeks of the Covid-19 measures ending. If you find during a retrospective check that your employee does not have the right to work you must then end their employment.