Right to work checks

Every employer in the UK, including the NHS, schools, councils and the Civil Service, must check that you are allowed to work here before your job starts. There are three ways to do it: the employer looks at your original documents, uses the Home Office online service with a share code, or uses a certified digital identity provider for British and Irish passports. It applies to everyone, British citizens included.

Why every applicant is checked

The law puts the duty on the employer. If they carry out the check correctly before you start, they have a defence (called a statutory excuse) if it later turns out you did not have the right to work. If they skip it, they risk a civil penalty. That is why HR teams are strict about the order of things: no completed check, no start date.

The check must happen for everyone, so an employer should not pick and choose whom to check based on accent, name or appearance. Doing that can be race discrimination under the Equality Act 2010. The usual practice is to check every successful candidate in the same way, often at the same stage as the other pre-employment checks.

The three ways a check can be done

Manual document check

You show original documents, the employer checks them in your presence (in person or on a live video call with the originals sent to them), and they keep a copy. The Home Office guide sets out two lists. List A covers documents that show a permanent right to work, such as a British or Irish passport, or a full UK birth or adoption certificate together with an official document showing your National Insurance number. List B covers documents that show a time-limited right, and those mean the employer has to recheck before the permission runs out.

Online check with a share code

If your status is held digitally, which now covers most people with visas, settled or pre-settled status and eVisas, you prove it online. Go to the gov.uk “prove your right to work” service, sign in, and generate a share code. Give the code and your date of birth to the employer, who enters them on the “check a job applicant’s right to work” service and sees your photo and your work conditions.

Share codes expire after a set period, so generate one close to when the employer asks for it. If it lapses, you just create a new one.

Digital identity check for British and Irish passports

Employers can pay a certified identity service provider (IDSP) to verify a valid British or Irish passport through an app or web link. You photograph your passport and your face, and the provider confirms the match. Some NHS trusts and larger councils use this for speed. An expired passport cannot be checked this way, so you would fall back on a manual check.

Documents to have ready

If you are British or Irish, the simplest proof is a current passport. Without one, most people use a full UK birth certificate plus a document from HMRC, DWP or a previous employer that shows their National Insurance number (a P45, P60 or letter). A short birth certificate on its own is not enough.

On a visa or with status under the EU Settlement Scheme, have your share code ready and check the conditions on your record first. Look for:

• the date your permission ends
• any limit on hours, such as for students in term time
• whether the work is tied to a sponsor, as with a Skilled Worker or Health and Care Worker visa

If the job is sponsored, the right to work check sits alongside the sponsor’s own duties. The details for health roles are in Health and Care Worker visa and for schools in Teaching in the UK on a Skilled Worker visa.

When the check happens

The law only requires the check before employment starts. In practice, public sector employers fit it into their recruitment process at different points.

NHS employers include it as one of the six NHS Employment Check Standards, so it usually happens with your ID check after a conditional offer. Schools often ask you to bring documents on interview day so they can complete safer recruitment checks quickly. Civil Service departments run it as part of their pre-employment screening. Councils vary.

Being asked for right to work documents at interview does not mean you have been offered the job. Your offer will still be conditional until all checks are complete.

Time-limited permission and rechecks

If your permission has an end date, the employer must check again before it expires. If you applied to extend your visa before it ran out and are waiting for a decision, the employer can ask the Home Office Employer Checking Service to confirm you can keep working. Tell HR as soon as you apply, with proof of the application, so they can do this in time.

Losing the right to work can lead to dismissal, so keep your own note of the dates as well as relying on HR’s reminders.

If something goes wrong

Common problems are a share code that shows outdated details, a name that does not match across documents, or an employer who is unfamiliar with eVisas. Updating your UKVI account details usually fixes the first. For name differences, bring evidence of the change, such as a marriage certificate or deed poll.

If you believe the employer has got the rules wrong, point them to the Home Office employer’s guide. For a dispute about a withdrawn offer, ACAS or a trade union can help. For questions about your immigration status itself, speak to an OISC-registered adviser or a solicitor. An employer’s HR team cannot advise on that.