Right-to-work checks since Brexit

Since 1 January 2021, the UK has no longer been a part of the European Union. This had wide-ranging impacts upon the UK immigration landscape, including in the area of employer right-to-work checks.   

Prior to Brexit, the checks that employers had to undertake on EEA and Swiss nationals before on-boarding them as staff members were minimal. In most cases, it would have been sufficient for the employer to simply check a candidate’s original EEA/Swiss passport or ID card to establish that they had the right to work in the UK.

Post Brexit, for the majority of EEA/Swiss national candidates, employers onboarding a new employee will now need to check their right to work in the UK via the online right-to-work check service. This is done using a share code, which is generated by the candidate from their EU Settlement Scheme online portal.

Employers who were already employing EEA/Swiss nationals when Brexit occurred, and had carried out an ‘old-style’ right-to-work check on these employees, are not required to carry out repeat right–to-work checks on them.

How can we help?

Gherson’s Corporate Immigration Team are highly experienced in advising on right-to-work compliance.

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, 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.

©Gherson 2022