Recruitment is an area of business that a lot of small business owners reach out to independent consultants to oversee for them. Over my time in the freelance world, I have been lucky enough to support a number of clients with recruitment and despite the cost of living crisis we are experiencing here in the UK, there are a number of industries looking to expand their employees.
Now, cost of recruitment is a huge factor when looking for new employees and so getting it right is essential to saving time, money and effort, something we champion here at MPC!
One of the ways to ensure you’re employing the right people is to make sure you’re complying with the right to work process. Here’s my top tips on your responsibilities as an employer.
For remote workers: the new digital process is available via Identity Service Providers (ISP), list of government approved organisations can be obtained at Gov.uk using the search facility. These can be used for UK and Irish citizens with a full passport.
For non UK citizens: They should be able to provide you with a code for the Home Office where you can check their immigration status online. You can get a full list of accepted methods of proof of Right to Work status on the home office website.
For Office based/ Hybrid workers: You can use the manual process you should follow the 3 steps below.
- Obtain copies of an original documents, this can be a passport or full birth certificate as an example – full list of acceptable documents are available on the government website
- Check that documents are genuine, untampered with, expiry dates, cross check all documents for consistent information (DOB and Names match), any discrepancies can be accounted for with other documentation.
- Keep copies stored either electronically or manually. These are to be kept for the duration of the employment and for 2 years following their exit of the business.
Not carrying out these checks correctly could land you in hot water with the home office and leave you with a pretty significant fine. The responsibility lies with employers, and if you’re running a small business and are unsure of what checks to do, how to carry out the checks or what to do with the results, it’s always wise to employ a professional to help.
If you need support with HR matters and or legal advice then please do check us out MyPeopleClub
