Employment Verification & Right to Work Checks
Employers in the UK have a legal responsibility to ensure that individuals have the right to work before employment begins.
Hudson McKenzie provides employment verification and UK Right to Work checking services to businesses, HR teams, recruitment organisations and international employers. We can support the verification process, identify potential immigration issues and help employers maintain appropriate records and follow-up procedures.
A correctly conducted Right to Work check can provide an employer with a statutory excuse against a civil penalty if an employee is subsequently found to be working illegally.
A UK Right to Work check is an immigration compliance check carried out before an individual starts employment.
The purpose of the check is to establish whether the individual has permission to work in the UK, whether they are permitted to undertake the proposed role and whether any restrictions apply to the type, hours or duration of their employment.
Depending on the individual’s nationality and immigration status, the appropriate process may involve a manual document check, a Home Office online Right to Work check or an eligible digital verification service.
Where an individual has time-limited permission to work, a follow-up check may be required before that permission expires. There are also circumstances in which an employer may need to use the Home Office Employer Checking Service to verify an individual’s status.
Hudson McKenzie assists employers with individual Right to Work checks as well as wider workforce immigration compliance programmes.
Employment Verification & Right to Work Checks
Pre-Employment Right to Work Checks
Immigration Status and Employment Verification
Digital, Manual and Follow-Up Right to Work Checks
Employer Checking Service, Sponsor Compliance and Right to Work Audits
How Hudson McKenzie Can Help
Hudson McKenzie assists employers with employment verification, Right to Work checks and wider UK immigration compliance.
We can support individual pre-employment checks, immigration status verification, follow-up Right to Work checks, Employer Checking Service cases and reviews of existing employee records and HR procedures.
For employers that recruit sponsored workers, we can also consider Right to Work compliance alongside the organisation’s wider Sponsor Licence responsibilities and immigration compliance systems.
Our team works with UK companies, multinational businesses, HR departments, Global Mobility teams, recruitment businesses and international organisations employing staff in the UK.
Employers that do not conduct the prescribed checks correctly can face significant financial and operational consequences. Current Home Office guidance provides for civil penalties where an employer employs someone illegally and cannot establish the required statutory excuse.
For advice on employment verification, UK Right to Work checks or an existing compliance concern, speak to Hudson McKenzie about your organisation’s requirements.
