In every sponsor licence audit I carry out, right to work checks are where I expect to find a problem. Not because employers are careless, but because the rules are more specific than most people assume, and the consequences of getting them wrong are disproportionately severe compared to how simple the check itself should be.

This guide sets out, in plain terms, what UK law requires of sponsors when it comes to right to work checks: what counts as valid, when the check must happen, what must be retained, and where I most often see organisations get this wrong.

What Is a Right to Work Check?

A right to work check is the process by which an employer verifies that a person is legally permitted to work in the UK, before they start employment. It applies to every employee, not only sponsored workers, and is a legal requirement for all UK employers, regardless of whether they hold a sponsor licence.

For sponsors specifically, right to work checks form part of the wider sponsor duties set out in the Workers and Temporary Workers Sponsor Guidance. A sponsor that fails to conduct or retain evidence of these checks correctly is not only at risk of a civil penalty for illegal working but may also be found in breach of its sponsor duties, which can affect the licence itself.

Is Holding a Copy of a Passport a Right to Work Check?

No. This is the most common misunderstanding I encounter, and it applies across sectors, not only in care.
Many employers believe that holding a copy of a new employee's passport satisfies the right to work requirement. It does not, unless that employee is a British or Irish citizen using a valid passport as their proof of right to work.

For all other employees, the law requires a specific verification process to be followed, using one of the approved methods set out below. A photocopy filed away in an HR folder, without the check itself having been properly carried out and recorded, does not meet the legal requirement, even if the underlying document was genuine and the person did, in fact, have the right to work.

What Are the Approved Methods for Conducting a Right to Work Check?

There are three recognised ways to carry out a right to work check, and which one applies depends on the individual's immigration status and documentation.

1. Manual document check
   Used for individuals who hold an acceptable physical document, such as a British or Irish passport. This involves checking the original document in the presence of the holder, confirming the photograph matches the person, checking expiry dates, and retaining a clear copy.

   
   

2. Home Office online right to work checking service
   Used for most non-British and non-Irish citizens, including those with eVisas, biometric residence permits, or other digital immigration status. The employer obtains the individual's share code and date of birth, checks this through the official Home Office online service, and retains the result of that check, which confirms the right to work along with any conditions or expiry date.

   
   

3. Identity Service Provider (IDSP) check
   An alternative digital route, used in some cases for British and Irish citizens holding a valid passport, carried out via certified identification technology rather than a manual document check.

   
   Using the wrong method for a given individual, or treating a passport copy as sufficient where digital verification was required, is one of the most frequent errors identified in compliance audits.

   
   When Must a Right to Work Check Be Carried Out?

   
   The check must be completed before the individual starts work. This is not a guideline; it is the legal requirement that determines whether an employer has a statutory excuse against a civil penalty for illegal working.

   
   This timing point causes more difficulty than almost any other aspect of right to work compliance, particularly where a sponsored worker's start date and the date the check was carried out do not align.

   
   Why Does the Timing of the Check Matter So Much?

   
   Because a right to work check carried out even a few days after an employee starts work does not provide the legal protection it is meant to provide, regardless of the outcome of the check itself.

   
   This is best illustrated with a scenario I see often in the care sector, where it can create a direct conflict between two regulatory bodies assessing the same set of facts differently.

   
   Consider a sponsored worker who starts employment on 5 March, having shown the employer evidence of valid immigration status before starting. The employer is satisfied, in good faith, that the person has the right to work. The formal online right to work check, however, is not carried out until 7 March, two days after the employee's start date.

   
   

   CQC perspective	Home Office perspective
   Employee has a contract, is paid correctly, and works appropriate hours.	The right to work check was carried out after the employee's start date.
   A right to work check has been carried out and is on file.	Because the check post-dates the start of employment, the employer does not have a statutory excuse.
   Assessment: compliant.	Assessment: not compliant, regardless of the eventual check result. A civil penalty may apply.

   
   The two-day gap is the entire issue. The employer in this scenario may be fully compliant from a CQC perspective and simultaneously non-compliant from a Home Office perspective, based on exactly the same facts. This is one of the clearest examples of why right to work checks cannot simply be folded into general HR onboarding and must be treated as a distinct, time-critical legal requirement in their own right.

   
   What Must Be Retained After a Right to Work Check?

   
   Carrying out the check correctly is only half of the requirement. Sponsors must also retain clear evidence of the check, in a form that can be produced on request, including during a Home Office compliance visit.

   
   In practice, this means retaining:
   • A clear copy of the document checked, or the output of the Home Office online checking service
   • The date on which the check was carried out
   • Evidence of who carried out the check
   • Where applicable, the expiry date of the individual's permission to work, so that follow-up checks can be scheduled.

   
   Where an individual's right to work is time-limited, a follow-up check must be carried out before that permission expires. Relying on a single check carried out at the point of hire, with no system for tracking expiry dates, is one of the most common gaps identified in sponsor licence audits.

   
   How Often Must Right to Work Checks Be Repeated?
   
   

   Where an employee has time-limited permission to work, a follow-up check is required before that permission expires, to confirm the individual continues to have the right to work.

   
   Where an employee has no time limit on their right to work, such as a British or Irish citizen or someone with indefinite leave to remain confirmed through the appropriate check, no follow-up check is required.

   
   Putting an expiry date in a calendar, without a clear process for what happens when that date approaches, is not an adequate system. I have reviewed organisations that believed they had this under control, only to find the relevant calendar reminder had been missed, ignored, or set against the wrong date entirely.

   
   What Happens If a Right to Work Check Is Missing or Invalid?

   
   The consequences depend on whether the employer can demonstrate a valid check was carried out before the individual started work.

   
   If a valid check was carried out correctly and on time
   
   

   The employer has what is known as a statutory excuse. Even if it later transpires that the individual did not, in fact, have the right to work, the employer is protected from a civil penalty, provided the check was genuinely valid and timely.

   
   If no check was carried out, or the check was invalid or late
   
   

   The employer has no statutory excuse. If the individual is later found not to have the right to work, the employer may face a civil penalty per illegal worker, which can be substantial. Even where the individual is later confirmed to have valid status, a late or improperly conducted check still represents a sponsor duty failure that can be identified during a Home Office compliance visit.

   
   This is why right to work checks are treated so seriously in sponsor licence compliance visits. The Home Office is not only assessing whether illegal working has occurred; it is assessing whether the sponsor's systems are capable of preventing it.

   
   Frequently Asked Questions

   
   Is a passport copy enough for a right to work check?
   
   

   Only where the individual is a British or Irish citizen using a valid passport as their right to work document. For all other employees, a specific verification check, usually through the Home Office online checking service, is required, and a passport copy alone does not meet this requirement.

   
   Does a right to work check need to be repeated for every employee, even if they are not sponsored?
   
   

   Yes. The legal requirement to conduct right to work checks applies to all employees, not only those who are sponsored. Sponsors should not assume that only sponsored workers' status needs to be verified.

   
   What happens if an employee working for me submits an application to the Home Office? Do I need to carry out a new Right to Work check?
   
   

   If your employee submits an application to the Home Office before their current immigration permission expires, they may continue to have the right to work in the UK while their application is being considered under Section 3C of the Immigration Act 1971.

   
   However, employers should not assume that the employee automatically retains the right to work. Where an employee's existing permission expires and they have a pending application with the Home Office, you should use the Employer Checking Service (ECS) to obtain a Positive Verification Notice (PVN). A PVN provides you with a statutory excuse against liability for a civil penalty for a period of six months.

   
   If the employee is subsequently granted further permission to remain in the UK (for example, a visa extension or indefinite leave to remain), you should carry out a fresh Right to Work check and retain evidence of the employee's updated immigration status in accordance with Home Office guidance.

   
   If the employee's application was submitted out of time, or they are unable to provide evidence of a pending application, they may no longer have the right to work in the UK. In such circumstances, employers should seek legal advice promptly.

   
   Failure to carry out the appropriate checks could expose your business to a civil penalty of up to £60,000 per illegal worker and, for sponsor licence holders, may have serious implications for your sponsor licence and your ability to sponsor migrant workers.

   
   If you are unsure whether a new Right to Work check is required, it is always advisable to seek legal advice, as the position will depend on the employee's individual circumstances and immigration history.

What is the deadline for carrying out a right to work check?

The check must be completed before the individual starts work. A check carried out after the start date does not provide a statutory excuse, regardless of the outcome of the check.

How long should the right to work evidence be kept?

Unless otherwise stated in this guidance, all documents relating to a worker you sponsor must be kept throughout the period that you sponsor them, and until whichever is the earlier of either:
• one year after the date on which your sponsorship of the worker ended; or
• the date on which a compliance officer has examined and approved them, if this is less than one year after your sponsorship of the worker ended.

The details of those under sponsorship can be found in Appendix D: Record-Keeping Duties of the Workers and Temporary Workers sponsor guidance.

Can the Home Office penalise an employer even if the worker turns out to have had the right to work all along?

Yes, in certain circumstances. If the required check was not carried out correctly or on time, the employer may not have a statutory excuse and could still face enforcement action for the compliance failure itself, separate from the question of whether the individual actually the right had to work.

Final Thought

Right to work checks are, on paper, one of the simplest sponsor duties to meet. In practice, they are the area where I most consistently find gaps, because the requirement is more precise than most employers realise, and the margin for error, particularly around timing, is genuinely narrow.

Holding the right documents is not the same as having carried out the right check, recorded at the right time, in the right way. That distinction is exactly where civil penalties and sponsor duty failures tend to arise, and it is rarely visible to the organisation itself until an audit, or a Home Office compliance visit, looks closely enough to find it.

If your organisation has not had its right to work processes independently reviewed, this is one of the highest-value areas to check before the Home Office checks it for you.

If you would like your right to work processes independently reviewed as part of a sponsor licence compliance audit, contact Ardia & Co. → Book a consultation

Disclaimer: This article is intended for general information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Right to work requirements depend on the specific immigration status of each individual and on Home Office guidance in force at the relevant time, which is subject to change. Specific legal advice should be obtained before relying on any right to work check or process described in this article.