Training your staff on Right to Work can benefit your business

Right to Work checks are designed to establish that all members of staff, casual or permanent, have the legal right to work in the UK. The checks are mandatory for all workers who are employed in the UK, whether they were born here or not, and failure to carry out Right to Work checks can have costly consequences.

Civil penalties of a fine of up to £20,000 per illegal worker can be issued, which could be catastrophic for your business.

Understanding how to comply with Home Office guidelines in completing Right to Work checks is a crucial part of the recruitment process and anyone who has the responsibility of handling identity documents and on-boarding new employees, both from the UK, Europe and internationally must be fully trained.

In addition, any staff members involved in recruitment at any level, would benefit from training, in order to mitigate risk of non-compliance and improve confidence in the work force.

Right to Work training will ensure that staff members appreciate the importance of Right to Work checks, as well as the severity of consequences for non-compliance. Comprehensive training also includes ensuring competence in the identification of counterfeit documents, understanding the tier visa system and the minimum requirements in verifying eligibility, how to use the latest tools which assist in compliant checks and best practices across the checking process.

Training ensures competence and confidence in a crucial stage of the recruitment procedure.

But staff training should not be considered a one and done concern. Knowledge can become rusty over time, and legislation is constantly changing. The UK Immigration system has long been criticised for being too complicated, however, the consequences for not carrying out comprehensive checking can be severe.

Right to Work checks are the very foundation of a successful hire and it is crucial that they are carried out effectively. Ensuring that everyone involved in the recruitment process has up to date Right to Work training could mean the difference between compliance and a hefty fine.