A United Kingdom Right to Work (UK RTW) check enables employers to verify an individual’s right to work in the UK. Completing a Right to Work check is essential for confirming that a new employee's identity is accurate and that they possess the legal eligibility to work in the UK. Furthermore, all employers are obligated by law to perform this check before an employee begins their new position.

Historically, UK employers typically had to complete right to work checks manually and in person. The UK government’s digital identity and attributes trust framework now allows for a more digital process. Certn’s UK Right to Work check verifies the identity of your applicant digitally. This digital right to work check is performed by a certified digital identity service provider (IDSP) that is approved by the UK government. Certn is an authorized IDSP, enabling us to manage these matters directly, saving you and your applicant time.

This article is for clients based in the United Kingdom (UK) who need to complete Right to Work checks for prospective employees (applicants).

In this article

Order this check

Who can order UK RTW checks

To order a UK Right to Work check from CertnCentric you must have the applicant’s email address and the applicant must be working within the United Kingdom.

Additionally, in accordance with good pre-employment industry practices, employers should consider ordering Right to Work checks only for successful applicants as a final step in their hiring process.

For more information on ordering checks through CertnCentric, see the Order checks Certn Help article.

To complete a digital UK Right to Work check, the applicant must declare that they hold a valid British or Irish Passport (or an Irish passport card) in their application. If they do not have either form of ID, the check will be cancelled at no charge and the client must seek an alternative method of performing a UK Right to Work check before the individual begins employment.

Turnaround time

On average, Certn’s UK Right to Work checks are complete within 30 seconds of an applicant submitting their application successfully.

If you ordered this check and are looking for information about its progress, refer to Stages of this check section of this article or review the Case and check statuses article.

Stages of this check

When you use CertnCentric to invite your applicant to complete a UK Right to Work check, the stages of the check are as follows:

1. Order

You place an order that includes a UK Right to Work check.

2. Application

The applicant receives an email invitation to complete the application that includes a UK Right to Work check.

If the applicant does not hold the correct Identity document, the UK RTW check will be cancelled without charge.

3. Processing

Certn processes the check using the information supplied by the applicant.

4. Results

The check’s results become available to you in CertnCentric and to the applicant in the applicant portal.

Applicant experience

When you order a UK Right to Work check, the applicant receives an email inviting them to complete an application. Through the application process, the applicant will supply Certn with:

their legal name and any relevant prior names,
their date of birth,
their address history,
consent to use biometric facial recognition to verify their identity and consent to verify the validity of the photo ID,
Image captures of a valid government-issued photo ID, and
a selfie.

To complete this check, your applicant must have either a British passport or an Irish passport (or Irish passport card). During the check, your applicant captures an image of their identity document and a takes a selfie (a self photograph). To successfully complete the check, your applicant must pass the check’s four criteria:

Face match: Compares your applicant’s selfie to the picture in their identity document.
Liveness: Ensures your applicant is taking a live selfie and not a picture of a picture.
Identity verification: Checks for evidence that could indicate a compromised identity.
Document verification: Checks for features that could indicate an invalid document.

Next steps

After you've placed your order and we've received the required details from the applicant, the check begins processing. You can view the case and check results at any time in CertnCentric. Learn more in our Manage your cases Certn Help article.

After your applicant successfully completes the check, a report becomes available to you in CertnCentric. Then, outside of your CertnCentric account, you’ll need to finalise the check by simply confirming that the selfie and passport in the report you receive from us visibly matches the person who presents for work in accordance with the guidance provided in the UK Government’s Employers' right to work checklist. You must do this before the employee starts work. You will also need to keep evidence of this check on file for the duration of the employment, in accordance with your legal obligations as an employer.

Learn more about the results of UK Right to Work checks in this article.

UK Right to Work checks in CertnCentric