Home Office Youtube video offers help with right to work checks

You’re no longer able to accept EU, EEA or Swiss passports or national identity cards as valid proof of right to work for job applicants, with the exception of Irish nationals. For checks from 1 July 2021 onwards, EU, EEA and Swiss nationals must prove their right to work through evidence of their immigration status in the same way as all other foreign nationals. However, you don’t need to retrospectively check the right to work status of any EU, EEA or Swiss national that you employed before 1 July 2021.

What this means in practice is that you should now conduct an online right to work check - through the Home Office’s online right to work checking service - for new job applicants who hold digital proof of their immigration status in the UK, known as an eVisa. This applies to most EU, EEA and Swiss nationals, including those who have settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, and those of other nationalities who hold a biometric resident permit, biometric residence card, frontier worker permit or who have moved to the UK more recently under the new points-based immigration system. A manual right to work document check can be completed for UK and Irish nationals who can use their passport, or other identity document, as proof of their right to work. You’ll also need to complete a manual check for other nationalities in the UK who can’t prove their immigration status online. All checks should be carried out before the individual starts working for you.

The new Home Office video is less than three minutes long, so it’s an easy watch, and it guides you through the new right to work check process, including details of the information required for both online and manual checks and links to further information.