Home Office defers (again!) end date for adjusted right to work checks concession

Since the introduction of the Covid-19 right to work check concession on 30 March 2020, the Home Office has on five separate occasions changed the end date of this temporary concession. Just as employers were preparing for this concession to come to an end from 6 April 2022, the Home Office announced on 22 February that this concession will now end on 30 September 2022.

The rationale for extending the concession follows the Home Office’s announcement on employers using Identification Document Validation Technology (IDVT) to carry out digital checks on British and Irish citizens from 6 April 2022 – we previously wrote about this announcement which can be found here. It is envisaged the deferral of the concession end date will allow employers ample time to develop commercial relationship with identity service providers – at present we don’t know which service providers will be on the Home Office’s approved list which is likely to be published early April this year. Furthermore, it is recognised that employers may need additional time to make changes to current pre-employment and on-boarding processes to reflect the latest changes to come into effect from 6 April, especially for those businesses that have heavily relied on ‘virtual’ right to work checks.

It is important for employers to note that the extension of the concession does not affect individuals holding a Biometric Residence Permit, Biometric Residence Card, status under the EU Settlement Scheme, digital status under the Points-Based System or Frontier Worker Permit holders. For this cohort, from 6 April 2022, employers can only carry out a valid right to work check via the online right to work checking system – see here for our update on this.

If your business requires support with providing training to staff on right to work checks and the prevention of illegal working then please do not hesitate to contact Sundeep Rathod who leads our Immigration team.

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