UK employers have a legal obligation to comply with the prevention of illegal working legislation as set out set out in the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006, section 24B of the Immigration Act 1971 and Schedule 6 of the Immigration Act 2016. This legislation requires checks to verify that anyone you employ in the UK has the legal right to perform that work. Landlords have to jump through similar hoops when it comes to establishing the Right to Rent – but more on them later.
Stiff Penalties for Non-Compliance
Employers may be liable for a civil penalty if they employ someone who does not have the right to undertake the offered work on or after 29 February 2008. That was a lesson embarrassingly learned by former chief law officer Baroness Scotland in 2010 when it turned out she had hired an illegal immigrant as her cleaner. The cleaner, Loloahi Tapui, was jailed for a total of eight months and Baroness Scotland was fined £5,000 for failing to take copies of the documents Tapui claimed to show she was entitled to work in the UK.
That’s why conducting Right to Work checks correctly is important, not least because it offers you a defence in the event of problems with the immigration or working status of any of your employees. Equally vital though is carrying out these checks on all prospective employees, regardless of nationality, race, or ethnicity. Singling out certain classes of individual could lead to charges of unlawful discrimination by an employee.
Employers have had two ways to conduct checks on a job candidate’s Right to Work: inspecting their physical ID documents in a manual check or looking the candidate up on the Home Office UK Visas & Immigration department (UKVI) UKVI immigration database online.
Digitalisation of Right to Work Checks
Complete digitalisation has been a long-term goal for the UKVI and its ambition is to do away with physical immigration documents entirely by the end of 2024. Checking an individual’s Right to Work using the temporary COVID-19 adjusted measures has proved popular, especially given the practical difficulties in checking new employee’s status when so many people were working from home. So popular in fact that the UKVI announced in June 2021 that, due to positive feedback, they intended to introduce a new digital solution to allow more types of status to be checked online. This includes UK and Irish citizens whose status cannot be confirmed using the current UKVI online checking service.
Changes to the System in April
From 06 April 2022 onwards employers will no longer be permitted to accept some physical documents as evidence of right to work. This includes Biometric Residence Permits (BRP), Biometric Residence Cards issued to family members of EEA migrants under the EU Settlement Scheme and Frontier Worker Permits for EEA migrants. Employers will instead be expected to use the free UKVI online checking tool. Employers will not need to do retrospective checks on anyone employed on or before 05 April 2022 if those checks were made using a physical document, although follow-up checks will still be required where someone has limited permission to stay in the UK.
Government guidance announced on 17 January 2022 stated that, from 06 April 2022, the government intended to work with Identification Document Validation Technology (IDVT) service providers to carry out checks on people outside the scope of UKVI’s own online checking service.
From that same April date employers can only use certified Identity Service Providers (IDSPs) to carry out digital Right to Work checks on British and Irish citizens – as long as they hold a valid passport. It’s thought that the cost could be as much as £70 per check, unlikely to be welcomed by businesses already dealing with National Insurance hikes and rising inflation.
The Employer Remains Liable
While the digital Right to Work checks are to be completed by IDSPs on behalf of employers, no IDSPs have been identified yet (it is expected that a list of certified IDSPs will be published by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport ‘shortly’). However, even though it’s someone else doing the check, the legal obligations around prevention of illegal working still falls on the employer.
Employers will still have a responsibility to carry out a risk assessment on every transaction and remain liable for undertaking their own due diligence, so examination of how your current Right to Work processes fit with this proposed digitalisation is crucial.
Limitations of the System
This digitalised service is expected to save time and bring efficiency, although the actual cost of using the system is unclear. And while digitalisation of the system appears to be a positive step, especially in a post-pandemic world, many suspect that in fact it represents the beginning of the privatisation of the UK’s immigration system. Those without broadband access or passports will be at a disadvantage, as will many candidates who may lack any physical documents (like those in the Windrush scandal).
Discussions are taking place to allow IDSPs to provide Right to Work checking services through alternative routes for those without passports or reliable on-line access. A problem here is that the people in most need of assistance (say those moving from welfare to work) are least likely to have any of the suggested documents, tax, NI records, or credit histories proposed.
The Right to Rent
Since 2015, landlords have been required to check that all prospective tenants have lawful immigration status in the UK before entering a residential tenancy in England, otherwise they may be liable for a severe civil penalty. Landlords can delegate this responsibility, along with maintaining records and conducting follow up checks to a letting agent.
The government claims that changing to digital identity checking in April means landlords can assure prospective tenants’ identities and eligibility. Biometric Residence Card (BRC), Biometric Residence Permit (BRP) and Frontier Worker Permit (FWP) holders will only be able to prove their right to rent using the Home Office online service. As with the Right to Work, from that April date physical documents will no longer be accepted as valid proof of Right to Rent. Landlords will not need to retrospectively check the status of BRC, BRP, or FWP holders who entered into a tenancy agreement up to and including 05 April 2022 and will not face any civil penalty if the initial checks were undertaken in line with the guidance that applied at the time the check was made.
Want to Know More?
Employers and landlords can get more information and guidance on the changes to Right to Work and Right to Rent checks by emailing RighttoRentandRighttoWork@homeoffice.gov.uk or by talking with the experts here at Motion Paradox.
