COVID RESOURCES-Advice for employers carrying out right to work checks during the coronavirus pandemic
Posted 1st April 2020 • Written by People First • • • • •
The government has announced temporary adjustments to right to work checks, making it easier for employers to recruit during the COVID-19 outbreak. Recruiters can:
- carry out checks over video call
- accept scanned documents or photos of documents as evidence
- use the Home Office Employer Checking Service if a prospective/existing employee cannot provide any of the accepted documents
These temporary changes take into consideration the challenges of recruiting remotely due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
New right to work steps for recruiters:
- Ask the worker to submit a scanned copy or a photo of their original documents via email or using a mobile app
- Arrange a video call with the worker – ask them to hold up the original documents to the camera and check them against the digital copy of the documents
- Record the date you made the check and mark it as “adjusted check undertaken on [insert date] due to COVID-19”
Recruiters can also use the online right to work checking service- while doing a video call, if the worker has a current Biometric Residence Permit or Biometric Residence Card or status under the EU Settlement Scheme. Applicants must first give permission for their details to be viewed.
It is unknown as to how long these adjustments will be valid until, however government says it will give employers advance warning. After which, the original checking process set out in right to work checks: an employer’s guide, will resume. Further information available here.
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