5 reasons why you should complete Digital Right to Work Checks

All UK employers are required to complete Right to Work checks, which involves seeing and checking relevant identity documents to validate if your applicant is legally permitted to work in the United Kingdom. It is an offence to employ someone who doesn't have the Right to Work in the UK or those who provide incorrect or fraudulent documents.

A Digital Right to Work check allows you to remotely prove an applicant's Right to Work status against applicable identity documents instead of completing in-person checks.

Here are five reasons why you should carryout Digital Right to Work Checks in your pre-employment background checking process.

Speed up your time-to-hire

Digital Right to Work Checks reduces time in your background checking process by eliminating the need for manual processes and completing in-person face-to-face checks. Instead, employees’ Right to Work status can be verified digitally and results are sent back to VettingGateway within an hour of completing the check, meaning your new hires can start working sooner.

Avoiding penalties and remaining compliant

All UK employers, must carry out Right to Work Checks to confirm that their employees have eligibility to work in the UK. Knowingly employing someone who doesn’t have this legal status can result in up to 5 years in jail and fines of up to £20,000 per illegal worker.

Protecting your company against recruitment fraud

With one study estimating a cost of nearly £24 billion per year for UK organisations, recruitment fraud is a big problem, both here and internationally. Employing a fraudulent candidate affects the businesses bottom line, as well as having negative impacts on the company culture, reputation and customer relationships.

Using a digital ID verification process is an easier and more secure way to prove a new starter is legally allowed to work and gives your vetting team confidence that a candidate’s documents are genuine.

Safeguarding employees’ personal information

Manual verification and onboarding methods are time consuming and create a lot of paperwork, which must be stored safely in line with data protection laws. Digital ID verification supports your vetting team with higher levels of security and reduces any chances of human error. An applicant’s Right to Work status is verified online and in real time which reduces the admin team from handling and storing any sensitive information.

Increasing your talent pool

Increased automation in the hiring process helps HR and talent teams reach more talent where the competition is high. It also provides a better candidate experience.

Digital Right to Work Checks help to streamline the background checking process and allow you to reach a broader pool of applicants as geographical barriers are removed.

If you would like to know more about VettingGateway's Digital Right to Work Checks, please book a demo with a team member below.