Are small businesses exempt from the right to work check regime?

The right to work check regime applies to all employers in the UK, regardless of the size of your organisation.

As an employer, you must conduct the right to work check on all prospective employees, before they commence work in order to prevent illegal working. If it transpires that an individual that is employed by you does not have the right to work in the UK, failure to conduct a valid right to work check could lead to adverse consequences.

Consequences include penalties of up to £20,000 per worker who does not have the right to work, revocation of a sponsor licence (if you have one) and, in the most serious of cases, imprisonment of a Director of the organisation. 

However, if you conducted a valid right to work check before the employment commenced, you may have established a statutory excuse against a civil penalty if it transpires that the individual did not have the right to work. 

In order to be valid, the check must have been carried out in line with the Home Office guidance at the time that the individual started working for your organisation – the guidance changes frequently and therefore it can be critical to know which steps were required at the relevant time. We discuss how to conduct a valid right to work check in our previous blog. 

As a small business it would be best practice to incorporate the right to work check steps into your employee on-boarding process. This will help to ensure you are confident that the individual has the right to work for your organisation before they start working and to ensure you have carried out all required steps to prevent illegal working and establish a statutory excuse. 

How Gherson can assist

Gherson’s Immigration Team are highly experienced in advising on UK visa matters. If you have any questions arising from this blog, please do not hesitate to contact us for advice, send us an e-mail, or, alternatively, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn to stay-up-to-date.

The information in this blog is for general information purposes only and does not purport to be comprehensive or to provide legal advice. Whilst every effort is made to ensure the information and law is current as of the date of publication it should be stressed that, due to the passage of time, this does not necessarily reflect the present legal position. Gherson accepts no responsibility for loss which may arise from accessing or reliance on information contained in this blog. For formal advice on the current law please do not hesitate to contact Gherson. Legal advice is only provided pursuant to a written agreement, identified as such, and signed by the client and by or on behalf of Gherson.

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