Right to work check
A right to work check is the Home Office-prescribed check that someone is allowed to work in the UK, done before they start. Done correctly by the employer it gives a statutory excuse against a civil penalty of up to £60,000 per illegal worker.
For a permanent placement the client is the employer and must do the check. Home Office guidance says an employer cannot establish a statutory excuse from a check carried out by a third party such as a recruitment agency, with a narrow exception for digital checks through a certified provider. Agencies pre-screen and record what they have seen, but the client still has to do its own check before the start date.
There are three prescribed methods. A manual check of original documents from the Home Office lists, with dated copies retained for the duration of the work plus two years. A Home Office online check using the share code and date of birth the individual provides, which is the only way someone with an eVisa can prove their right to work. Or a check through a registered digital verification service provider, used for British and Irish passports. Biometric residence permits stopped being issued on 31 October 2024, and an expired BRP is not acceptable proof.
The scheme is widening. From 1 October 2026, section 48 of the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025 extends it beyond employees to people engaged on workers' contracts and to individual sub-contractors, and the Home Office published draft guidance in September 2026. An employment business supplying individuals on workers' contracts is treated as their employer for the check. The draft says a check is not required where someone runs an independent business through their own company and contracts directly with the client, but that working through an intermediary may still be in scope depending on the arrangement. For limited company contractors supplied through an agency, the answer depends on the facts; take advice, and remember many clients require the check contractually anyway.
The Conduct Regulations separately require an agency to confirm a work-seeker's identity before introducing or supplying them. The common failures are follow-up checks missed for people with time-limited permission, copies not kept, and checking only candidates who seem foreign. Home Office guidance requires checks to be done consistently for everyone, British citizens included, to avoid discrimination.
How Vayora handles it
Vayora records a right to work status on each candidate, UK citizen, EU settled or pre-settled, visa holder, sponsorship required or unknown, with notes, and contractors can update theirs in the contractor portal. Roles can require existing right to work, and matching flags a candidate who needs sponsorship against a role that offers none. Vayora does not perform the check itself: it does not take share codes, connect to the Home Office service or a digital verification provider, or track permission expiry for follow-up checks.