Government postpone return to physical right to work checks until April 2022
As we covered recently, the government has posted its latest guidelines regarding right to work checks. Organisations will be able to digitally check foreign nationals’ right to work until April 5 2022.
While companies had been preparing for a reintroduction of physical right to work checks on September 1 2021, the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) stated that they had been told by the Home Office that digital checks would be allowed to continue for another year.
The REC wrote to Chris Philip, immigration compliance and justice minister, arguing that forcing a return to physical checks would be “counterproductive”, adding that digital checks have been a “resounding success”, allowing businesses to get back on their feet at a time when many industries are battling staff shortages.
Whilst the government is working on a permanent digital solution, no information is available about when it will be introduced or if legislative action will be necessary.
The REC shared a Home Office document that shows the decision to continue with digital checks was due to positive feedback:
“We have made the decision to defer the date for the end of the adjusted checks to 5 April 2022. This enables the conclusions of the review to be finalised and ensures the Right to Work Scheme continues to operate in a manner which supports employers to implement long-term, post-pandemic working practices,” the document says.
“From 6 April 2022, you must check the prescribed documents as set out in Right to work checks: an employer’s guide, published on Gov.uk. This means that when carrying out a document check you must be in possession of the original documents. You can no longer accept a scanned copy or a photo of original documents, as this will not provide you with a defence against a civil penalty.”
Response to the government’s action has been positive, with REC’s CEO Neil Carberry saying:
This is great news for recruiters and hiring businesses all over the country. Digital right to work checks have been a resounding success during the pandemic, allowing companies to hire quickly and safely as well as improving compliance. It makes complete sense to extend their use, especially considering the unprecedented labour shortages we are experiencing now.
“This move comes on the back of extensive campaigning from the REC with our last letter to the Home Office yesterday – linking the need for a delay to helping with worker shortages. We look forward to working with them further on a more permanent digital solution.”
Whilst Tania Bowers, legal counsel and head of public policy at the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo) – who have stated that over 40,000 workers were employed despite the pandemic via digital checks – commented:
This is great news for recruiters and hiring businesses all over the country. Digital right to work checks have been a resounding success during the pandemic, allowing companies to hire quickly and safely as well as improving compliance. It makes complete sense to extend their use, especially considering the unprecedented labour shortages we are experiencing now.
“This move comes on the back of extensive campaigning from the REC with our last letter to the Home Office yesterday – linking the need for a delay to helping with worker shortages. We look forward to working with them further on a more permanent digital solution.”