Alexander Finch examines employers’ right to work errors for Personnel Today

7 April 2025

A new article by Alexander Finch in Personnel Today analyses an independent Home Office-commissioned survey of employers’ right to work knowledge which reveals some worryingly common mistakes amid a Home Office crackdown on illegal working practices.

The study of employer awareness of correct right to work checks found that 80% of businesses surveyed answered at least one compliance question incorrectly and are therefore at risk of non-compliance.

This new research, outlined in Alexander’s article (link below) accompanies a rise in enforcement activity and queries from UK Visas and Immigration.

The Home Office recently announced “a ramp-up of operational action by Immigration Enforcement teams, who since July have carried out 6,784 illegal working visits to premises [up 40% year-on-year] and made 4,779 arrests [up 42%].” In the same period, 1,508 civil penalty notices have been issued. For the very first time in the next few months, the right to work checks organisations carried out on employees are also set to be extended to cover gig economy and zero-hours workers in sectors such as construction, food delivery, beauty salons and courier services.

With compliance more important than ever, please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or concerns about your right to work and sponsorship procedures and compliance, or would like an audit of your current practices.

Incorrect checks do not afford any protection from civil penalties, which in the last recorded quarter amounted to almost £30 million in issued fines.

Employers who conducted manual checks were asked in this survey which documents could be acceptable proof. While almost all employers (96%) knew that UK or Irish passports were, many wrongly stated that driving licences (62%) or bank statements and utility bills (47%) could be accepted.

The research  also reveals uncertainty over whether documents had to be rechecked with 64% of employers incorrectly saying documents had to be rechecked every five years rather than at the expiry point of a worker’s permission.

Most employers were correctly aware they were responsible for carrying out checks, with 89% saying that all employers in the UK had a responsibility to carry them out. However, 62% incorrectly thought that recruitment agencies had this responsibility, 48% believed it was the Home Office, 46% mistakenly said employees themselves and 44% wrongly said subcontractors.

You can read Alexander Finch’s analysis of the research in his article in Personnel Today. He writes: “There have been digital developments and changes to RTW guidance in recent years and since the pandemic, yet keeping on top of these and carrying out checks properly shouldn’t be too complicated. Nonetheless this survey confirms many employers are making mistakes which can lead to devastating consequences.

Hiring someone you have reasonable cause to believe is working illegally could land employers with a civil penalty of up to £60,000 per illegal worker, in serious cases, a criminal conviction carrying a prison sentence of up to five years and an unlimited fine, inability to sponsor other migrants – who may have to leave the country, closure of the business and disqualification as a director.”

(Photograph c Tim Gouw / Unsplash)