Ensuring your workers are eligible to work in the UK

Check entitlement to work in the UK

It is a criminal offence to employ anyone, aged 16 or over, who doesn't have permission to work in the UK or to do the type of work that you're offering. The maximum penalty is currently £5,000 per illegal employee on summary conviction, although the government has revised the penalty for convicted employers.

Check and keep a record of documents confirming an individual's entitlement to work in the UK before employing them. These documents, if seen and photocopied or scanned using Write Once Read Many (WORM) technology, will provide employers with a statutory defence. Access new information and guidance (including a Chinese version) about how to prevent illegal working from the Home Office website.

There are, by law, two lists of documents acceptable as evidence of legal working status in the UK. Download guidance outlining reasonable steps you should take when checking documents to obtain a statutory defence at the Home Office website.

Ask your employees to provide one of the original documents included in list 1, or two of the original documents from the combinations in list 2, eg:

• A passport showing the holder is a British citizen, or has the right of abode in the UK, (List 1) is sufficient to establish a defence.
• A document bearing a permanent National Insurance number, such as a P45 or P60 no longer provides an employer with statutory defence if presented on its own. If a potential employee produces a P45, now designated a list 2 document, it must be with another specified document from List 2. This could include a full birth certificate, issued in the UK which includes the name of the holder's parent or parents, a certificate of registration, or a certificate of naturalisation stating that the holder is a British citizen.

You must take reasonable steps to ensure your potential employee is the rightful holder of the presented documents. Any specific endorsements within a passport or travel document should indicate that the individual is allowed to do the type of work that you are offering.

The Home Office will soon issue a revised Code of Practice on the prevention of racial discrimination in recruiting practices.

Subjects covered in this guide

• Introduction
• Check entitlement to work in the UK
• When to check documents and how long to keep them
• Who doesn't need permission to work?
• Understand the work permit scheme
• Check if an applicant qualifies for a work permit
• How to apply for a work permit
• Extend or change existing work permits
• Employees from the European Economic Area

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