Right to Work Check Process – changes from 6 April 2022

On 16 December, an update was made to the Home Office’s guidance document ‘an employer’s right to work checks’ to reflect changes from 6 April 2022 for Biometric card holders.

The proposed changes will apply to right to work checks currently conducted on holders of a Biometric Residence Card (BRC), a Biometric Residence Permit (BRP) and a Frontier Worker Permit (FWP) from 6 April 2022.

For checks carried out up to and including 5 April 2022, employers may continue to accept either an individual’s physical card or by using the Home Office’s online service. During this time, employers must not discriminate against those who wish to use their physical card – they can however ask individuals if they would like to use the online service.

It’s also worth noting that the Home Office’s Covid-19 concession on adjusted right to work checks is still in place until 5 April 2022. This concession allows employers to follow an adjusted process in order to carry out Day 1 Right to Work checks. This concession has certainly proved helpful to businesses that are yet to return to the office full time. Further information on this concession and how to carry out an adjusted right to work check up until 5 April 2022 can be found here.

What’s changing?

From 6 April 2022, BRC, BRP and FWP holders will only be able to evidence their right to work to an employer using the Home Office’s online checking service found on the gov.uk webpage. Employers will no longer be able to accept physical cards as part of a Right to Work Check and will instead need to direct individuals to the online service and request a ‘share code’ as part of the online check. The Home Office’s guidance document makes it very clear that BRCs, BRPs and FWPs will be removed from the lists of acceptable documents that can be relied upon for a manual right to work check.

Preparation?

Employers should prepare now to ensure steps are taken to review internal right to work check processes and documentation are updated to reflect the changes from 6 April 2022.
Consider providing training to on-boarding staff and those responsible for Day 1 Right to Work checks – in particular familiarity of using the Home Office’s online checking service.

Please do not hesitate to contact Sundeep Rathod or any member of our Immigration team should you require any assistance regarding the above or any other Immigration matters.

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