Recruitment background checks

New and updated

• Date:

  16 January 2026

  Type:

  News

  Digital ID will no longer be mandatory work requirement

  The government has dropped plans to make it a mandatory requirement for workers to sign up for digital ID to prove their right to work in the UK.

• Type:

  Employment law guide

  Immigration rules and right to work

  Updated to reflect the Government draft regulations to increase the immigration skills charge, effective 16 December 2025.

• Date:

  17 December 2025

  Type:

  Commentary and insights

  Right to work checks for contractors, students and more: Your questions answered

  Volunteers, agency workers, consultants, students, contractors - are there different requirements to consider when conducting right to work checks for different worker types?

• Date:

  17 December 2025

  Type:

  Commentary and insights

  Right to work checks - requirements and pitfalls: Your questions answered

  Conducting right to work checks can be a complicated business, with requirements varying depending on factors such as an employee's immigration status, nationality and start date, and mistakes proving increasingly costly as a result of a Government crackdown on illegal working.

• Date:

  29 September 2025

  Type:

  News

  Employment experts sceptical about Keir Starmer's digital ID plan

  UK prime minister Keir Starmer has confirmed the government will introduce digital IDs to ensure the UK's 'borders are more secure'.

• Date:

  19 September 2025

  Type:

  Podcasts and webinars

  Webinar: Immigration rules - conducting right to work checks and navigating upcoming changes

  This webinar provides essential guidance on conducting right to work checks and common pitfalls. It also considers how the proposed expansion of right to work checks to cover workers and self-employed contractors will impact employers.

• Type:

  Quick reference

  Documentation acceptable as proof of right to work in the UK - limited right to work in the UK (list B)

  Updated to refer to "Digital Verification Services", reflecting changes in the terminology used in government guidance (previously IDSPs and IDVT). 

• Type:

  Quick reference

  Documentation acceptable as proof of right to work in the UK - indefinite right to work in the UK (list A)

  Updated to refer to "Digital Verification Services", reflecting changes in the terminology used in government guidance (previously IDSPs and IDVT). 

• Type:

  Quick reference

  Proof of right to work in the UK - copying of documents requirements

  Updated to refer to "Digital Verification Services", reflecting changes in the terminology used in government guidance (previously IDSPs and IDVT). 

• Type:

  How to

  How to carry out a right to work in the UK check

  Updated to refer to "Digital Verification Services", reflecting changes in the terminology used in government guidance (previously IDSPs and IDVT).