Transforming the future of Right to Work checking

Keith Rosser, Director of Reed Screening, discusses the single biggest change to the future of right to work checking for UK employers.

An innovative new system for right to work checks comes into force today (28 Jan), with Reed Screening supporting the Home Office in developing a safer and more robust checking system for UK employers.

The new online checking service enables employers to check the current right to work, in real time, of a person with a biometric residence permit or residence card.

Updates to legislation 

Key to modernising this process is the amendment to the Immigration (Restrictions on Employment) Order 2007, which required employers to rely on examination of a physical document in the presence of the candidate.

From today, employers are able to rely on an online check when candidates with relevant documents (biometric residence permits or cards) provide a 'share code'.

The legislative change paves the way to a safer and more robust online regime, and I expect the Home Office to add more document types to the system over the coming years.

"We have worked closely with UK employers and with users of the service in developing this new system, which has been operating effectively to provide employers and migrants with additional assurance where used to support right to work checks"
Caroline Nokes, Immigration Minister

Partnering with the Home Office

I am delighted that REED is one of the UK employers the Home Office worked with in developing this new system, which delivers on their commitment to make it easier for lawful UK residents to demonstrate right to work and to support employers with complying with the Immigration Asylum and Nationality Act 2006.

REED has been a part of the excellent ECHO committee with the Home Office for a number of years. The goal of the committee is to modernise and systemise right to work checking in a way that introduces a safer and more robust checking system for employers, and the new process is a big step to achieving this objective.

Removing barriers to work

The legislative change also amends the list of documents which demonstrate a right to work, to remove the requirement that a British birth or adoption certificate must be the full certificate for these purposes.

This will make it easier for those candidates who do not hold a passport to demonstrate their right to work, using a short birth or adoption certificate with a National Insurance number.

Staying informed

As the UK's largest recruitment and pre-employment vetting business, we provide advice and support about how legislative and technological changes affect our clients.

If you would like to discuss what these right to work changes mean for your business, please contact keith.rosser@reedglobal.com to arrange a meeting.