European Reseller

Helping bring new products to market

Thursday, Mar 28th

Last updateFri, 16 Jun 2023 8am

You are here: Home Digital management Momentous Changes To UK Employment Law
Hand Held

Momentous Changes To UK Employment Law

Russell King CEO of Xydus-

From October 1st 2022, crucial changes to the UK’s Right to Work legislation will become law.

But there's good news - there are a handful of certified IDSPs UK businesses can work with to guarantee compliance and makes the onboarding and offboarding of workers seamless. This presents a huge opportunity for channel resellers, as every business in the UK must be compliant with these laws.

Of the handful of companies who are government-certified digital identity providers (IDSPs).

Here Russell King, CEO of Xydus explains the pitfalls of ignoring this legislation.

He is urging British businesses to act now to ensure compliance and avoid potentially substantial repercussions.

Failure to prepare and implement the required changes could see employers face fines, lose the right to hire foreign workers and for repeat offenders even face the prospect of jail time. The legislation promotes the move to digital Right To Work checks for UK and foreign workers.

The journey to digital RTW

Prior to the pandemic, the majority of Right to Work checks were conducted in person as required under Home Office rules. Prospective employees showed documents providing evidence of their right to work to employers who stored a copy.

During the pandemic, temporary adjustments were made to these requirements in order for remote work to be facilitated, and help businesses continue to hire in lockdown. For the first time ever, in-person checks were permitted to be carried out over video calls, and job applicants were able to send a photo of their documents to employers via email.

Whilst temporary rules were successful, it increased the potential for bad actors to take advantage of circumstances and unfamiliar procedures. Therefore, to mitigate this risk but retain the benefits of a digital solution the government has enacted a number of changes.

From October 1st:

•             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 employees 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