Right to work checks for hospitality employers

Why right to work checks matter in hospitality

The hospitality sector is a Home Office enforcement priority for illegal working. Joint HMRC and Home Office visits to restaurants, hotels, pubs and takeaways are routine, with inspectors arriving unannounced to check staff documentation.

If you are found employing someone without the right to work and you have not conducted a compliant check, you face a civil penalty of up to 45,000 pounds per illegal worker for a first breach, rising to 60,000 pounds for repeat breaches. Beyond fines, your premises licence can be reviewed, and you risk criminal prosecution carrying an unlimited fine and up to five years imprisonment if you knowingly employ someone illegally.

Conducting proper checks before employment starts gives you a statutory excuse that protects you from civil penalties even if it later emerges the worker did not have the right to work. Without this excuse, the penalty applies regardless of whether you knew about the worker's immigration status.

The three-step check process

Every right to work check follows three mandatory steps. You must complete all three before the person starts any work for you, including trial shifts.

Online right to work checks

For anyone with digital immigration status, you must use the Home Office online checking service rather than a manual document check. This applies to:

• eVisa holders - digital immigration status with no physical document. All Biometric Residence Permits (BRPs) and Biometric Residence Cards (BRCs) expired on 31 December 2024 and are now defunct; their holders have been moved to eVisas and prove their right to work with a share code
• EU Settlement Scheme status holders - settled or pre-settled status
• Frontier worker permit holders - for EU/EEA citizens working in the UK but living abroad

How the online check works

The worker generates a share code through their GOV.UK account, valid for 90 days. You enter the share code and the worker's date of birth at gov.uk/view-right-to-work. The result confirms their right to work status, any restrictions, and whether a follow-up check is needed. Save or print the result page as your record, noting the date you conducted the check.

You cannot insist on seeing a physical document if the worker provides a valid share code. Refusing to accept an online check result could constitute discrimination.

Repeat checks and follow-up

If a worker has time-limited permission to work in the UK (indicated by List B documents or a time-limited online check result), you must conduct a follow-up check before their permission expires.

Set a calendar reminder for at least one month before expiry to allow time to complete the repeat check. If their permission expires and you have not reverified, you lose your statutory excuse from that date and become liable for civil penalties.

Workers with pending applications

If a worker has an outstanding application or appeal with the Home Office, they may present a Certificate of Application (CoA) or a positive verification notice from the Employer Checking Service. You must verify this through the Employer Checking Service before employment continues. Repeat checks are required every six months while the application remains pending.

Workers whose permission has expired

If a worker's permission expires and they have not applied to extend it, you must not continue to employ them. Doing so exposes you to the full civil penalty. If they have applied to extend before their permission expired, they can continue working while the application is processed, but you must verify this through the Employer Checking Service.

Penalties and enforcement

In addition to civil penalties, the Home Office can apply to have your business named publicly as having employed illegal workers. For hospitality businesses, this reputational damage can be as harmful as the financial penalty itself.

Criminal liability applies where you have reasonable cause to believe that a worker does not have the right to work but employ them regardless. This carries an unlimited fine and up to five years' imprisonment. Directors and managers can be personally prosecuted.

Licensing implications

A civil penalty for illegal working can trigger a review of your premises licence under the Licensing Act 2003. The licensing authority may impose additional conditions, suspend, or revoke your licence if they consider illegal working undermines the prevention of crime licensing objective.

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