Whilst the Coronavirus pandemic has resulted in many of the normal recruitment procedures being altered and is causing uncertainty for businesses across the UK, it is important that employers continue to carry out compliant right to work checks on all prospective employees, before they commence their employment.
The right to work process has inevitably adjusted, given that many people are now working from home and face-to-face contact is restricted, but it still remains a legal requirement for all businesses.
Failing to carry out a compliant right to work check can be detrimental to your business, with employers facing civil penalties of up to £20,000 per illegal employer. This is alongside other potential penalties such as imprisonment for employers who knowingly recruit illegal workers.
In normal circumstances, all right to work checks must be carried out by an employer in person. Perhaps the biggest change to this procedure during the coronavirus pandemic is that right to work checks can now be carried out by video link.
To carry out a compliant right to work check during the Coronavirus pandemic, we suggest that you follow this step by step process:
Step 1
Request that the applicant/new recruit sends you a scanned copy or clear photograph of their original right to work documents by email or a mobile app.
Step 2
Arrange a video call with them, during which they must hold up the original document(s) to the camera. You must then check the original document against the digital copy of the documents with the employee present.
Step 3
Record the date the check has been carried out and mark the documents as ‘adjusted check undertaken on [DATE] due to COVID-19’.
Step 4
It is also important that employers are mindful that some potential employees may be unable to evidence their right to work in the UK during the pandemic. You must take extra care to ensure that no-one is discriminated against because of this and contact the Home Office Employer Checking Service if the employee cannot provide acceptable documentation. If the person has the right to work in the UK, the Home Office will send you a Positive Verification Notice which will provide your business with a statutory excuse against a civil penalty for 6 months.
Step 5
If the applicant/new recruit has a visa, you will need to use the online right to work checking service to check their status during the video call. This service can be found here. Please note that this will only be relevant to those employees who hold visas or who have been granted status under the new EU Settlement Scheme. The applicant must give you permission to view their details.
Step 6
Once you know that the adjusted right to work procedure has come to an end (at the end of the pandemic) you should follow the usual right to work process. You will need to carry out retrospective checks on existing employees who started working for you during these measures or who required a follow up right to work check during the pandemic.
Step 7
You should mark this check: ‘[NAME]’s contract commenced with our company on [DATE]. The prescribed right to work check was undertaken on [DATE] due to COVID-19’.
Step 8
The prescribed right to work check in these circumstances is the check that was carried out at the end of the pandemic. You need to ensure that the retrospective checks have been carried out within 8 weeks of the Coronavirus measures coming to an end.
For more details on people management, furlough, employment and HR changes through the Coronavirus Crisis please see our Insight Hub or contact our specialist employment team.