Report finds widespread knowledge gap of looming RTW changes

With the new digital Right To Work (RTW) checks having a landmark overhaul next month, new research shows just how unprepared and uninformed some organisations are.

The survey, conducted by Xydus – one of a handful of government certified identity service providers (IDSP) who can carry out the UK’s new digital Right to Work (RTW) checks – revealed that although awareness of the new legislation was high (96% of businesses aware of the changes), 48% of employers surveyed were still unprepared for the deadline.

This is putting them at risk of significant non-compliance findings that could negatively impact their right to hire foreign workers and in serious cases, could even result in jail time.

The survey exposed a number of legal misinformation and misconceptions across the business landscape:

• 4% are completely unaware of any legal changes, while 3% bizarrely claimed to conduct no RTW checks at all, meaning up to 1537 large UK businesses may be headed towards compliance nightmares.
• 72% believed driving licences were compliant for RTW checks, despite the documents never being accepted as evidence of RTW.
• 78% were oblivious to the fact they could face jail time if non-compliant.

Russell King, CEO of Xydus, commented on the findings, “The list of potential consequences for getting digital Right to Work checks wrong is worrying many UK businesses.

“This research reinforces what we’ve seen and heard for quite some time, that many businesses still have a wide knowledge gap on the details and implications of these major changes in RTW legislation.”

Russell added, “It is not too late, there are easy-to-adopt options for UK employers who now need to be introduced to digital identity checks. Business leaders who feel ill-informed about these changes need to act now and engage with a compliant, certified IDSP like Xydus that has the 10+ years of experience delivering enterprise-grade identity management and work authorisation solutions.”

What is RTW?

Right to Work checks used to be conducted in person, however, temporary rules were brought in during the pandemic which meant that for the first time ever, in-person checks were carried out over video calls, and job applicants were able to send a photo of their documents to employers via email.

Digital Right to Work checks are now being made permanent but with additional rules to reduce the risk of fraud.

So, from the 1^st of October 2022:

• All UK businesses must use government certified Identity Service Providers (IDSPs) to complete digital Right to Work checks.
• Digital checks require the submission of images of personal documents using certified ID validation technology to verify the employee’s right to work. Any other method is non-compliant.
• Failing to comply can result in a civil penalty of up to £20,000 per non-compliant check, losing the ability to sponsor work visa applications for foreign nationals and even criminal convictions in serious cases.
• Records need to be kept for up to two years after an employee exits the business.

To find out more about contracting please contact Jaime on 01442 795 100 or email jaime.thorpe@dolanaccountancy.com.