Right to Work Guide

For British and Irish citizens:

• The right to work status will be checked via Amiqus.
  
  
• An identity check will be carried out either face to face or via Teams on the first day of employment or engagement to verify that the ID provided matches the person who has presented themselves for work.

For non-British and Irish citizens (holding a Biometric Residence Permits (BRP), Biometric Residence Cards (BRC) or Frontier Worker Permits):

• The right to work status must be confirmed by the Home Office via an official online check. We will gather the share code and any other information we require to complete the online check via Amiqus.
  
  
• An identity check will be carried out either face to face or via Teams on the first day of employment or engagement to verify that the ID provided matches the person who has presented themselves for work.
  
  
• Please note, holders of Biometric Residence Permits (BRPs) can only evidence their right to work using the Home Office online service. The University can no longer accept a physical BRP for a right to work check. If an applicant cannot show their documents. HR must contact the Home Office Employer Checking Service. If the person has a right to work, the Employer Checking Service will send HR a ‘Positive Verification Notice’. This provides the University with a statutory excuse for 6 months from the date in the notice.

It remains an offence to work illegally in the UK. Any individual identified who is disqualified from working by reason of their immigration status, may be liable to enforcement action.

What is an IDSP?
An identity service provider (IDSP) is a provider of ID verification services. They are certified to provide ID verification to specific levels of confidence, specified by government standards. IDSPs are sometimes referred to as 'identity providers'. We are working with Amiqus, who are a government recommended IDSP.

Who has access to Amiqus and where can I find further information?
Only the HR team have access to Amiqus. Further information about the system can be found on the Amiqus website.

Is Amiqus compliant with GDPR?
Yes. The University is still the data controller, Amiqus fulfil the role of data processor and we have a Data Processing Agreement in place with Amiqus. Our Worker Privacy notice has been updated.

What does this mean for British and Irish citizens?
We will use Amiqus to carry out the right to work check prior to the start date of employment or engagement.

The new staff member or casual worker will be sent a request via Amiqus to carry out a right to work check. Amiqus will use specialist software to verify the right to work documentation. There is no requirement for the new staff member or casual worker to send original identification by post. A further identity check will be carried out either face to face or via Teams on the first day of employment or engagement to verify that the ID provided matches the person who has presented themselves for work.

What does this mean for those that don’t have a British or Irish Passport?
Right to work check for those that do not have a British or Irish Passport are conducted via the Home office online check. Amiqus can be used to gather the information required for the Home Office online check i.e. provision of a share code. They do not need to send their original documents to us by post.

Can manual right to work checks still be carried out?
Yes. Although we have Amiqus a manual face to face check can still be carried out if this is more convenient. Information on how to carry out manual checks is provided below.

Who is responsible for carrying out a right to work check?
HR is responsible for carrying out the right to work check however manual checks can be carried out by a line manager and/engager. Where a check is carried out by someone out with HR the person completing the check must be confident that they have carried out the check in accordance with the UKVI requirements and provide the evidence of the check to HR for the individual’s record.

Why is an identity check required when right to work has been confirmed?
The UKVI rules require the employer to verify that the person who presents themselves for work is consistent with the ID documentation provided for the right to work check. This check can be carried our either face to face or via Teams.

What about those that do not have the right to work in the UK?
Following the UK Leaving the EU, a new immigration system was introduced on 1 January 2021. This applies to new members of staff entering the UK if they are a: 

• Non-UK/Irish national, who do not already have a visa which allows them to work in the UK eg: 
  • EEA/Swiss nationals who were not resident in the UK before 31 December 2020
  • Nationals from non-European countries. 

From 1 July 2021 EEA/Swiss nationals must present either a status through the EU Settlement Scheme or a visa through the immigration system.
Further information about right to work for EEA/Swiss citizens is available from the government website (External PDF).

It is essential that the right to work check is conducted before any work is undertaken. You may conduct either a physical document check or perform an online check to establish a right to work.

An explanation for each method is below however, it is not necessary to do both.

Where an online check cannot be used then a physical check must be done instead.

Manual Right to Work Check

A three step approach is taken. It is vital that three step approach be conducted prior to the engagement of an applicant or casual worker. Checks made on or after first day of employment/engagements are considered invalid by the Home Office. It is equally important that copies of relevant documents are secured in a timely manner and submitted to HR for verification.

• Obtain: You must see the applicant’s original documents.
• Check: You must check that the documents are valid with the applicant physically present.
• Copy: You must make and keep copies of the documents and record the date you made the checks. The date must be recorded ad follows, “the date on which this right to work check was made: [insert date]”

Simply writing a date on the copy document does not confirm that this is the actual date when the check was undertaken. If you write a date on the copy document, you must also record that this is the date on which you conducted the check.

Physical Document Check
The eligible documents are divided into two distinct lists, List A and List B.

• List A documents give the University a continuous statutory excuse for the duration of the individual's employment.
• List B documents give the University a time-limited statutory excuse for the duration the document remains valid. Additional checks will need to be undertaken for those who present documents from List B.

Acceptable evidence of a Right to Work

Online Document Check
For an online right to work check (available in respect of those with a biometric residence permit, a biometric residence card, an electronic visa, or have status issued under the EU settlement scheme). The individual will need to produce a share code to allow you to access their online record.

The HR team have developed a check list which they use for every new staff member or worker on a casual engagement to record the type of check undertaken and confirm the details. The checklist must be completed for every new staff member and casual worker.