Employment
...sound understanding of the correct method of checking right-to-work documentation...
the EU Settlement Scheme. There is still the requirement for an individual to have started living in the UK by 31 December 2020 for them to attain pre-settled status. Applications can be submitted to amend this to settled status once a person has five years’ continuous residence, but this must be completed prior to the expiration of someone’s pre-settled status. Individuals with pre-settled status can remain in the UK for a period of five years from the date it is awarded. For individuals in receipt of a UK state pension, they will automatically get settled status when they apply to the EU Settlement Scheme. Individuals with either settled or pre- settled status have the right to work in the UK, access the National Health Service for free, enrol in education or continue to study, entitlement to benefits and pensions should they be eligible, and they are also free to travel in and out of the UK. The Home Office recently reported that more than three million people had already been granted status under the
EU Settlement Scheme, and individuals still have until June 2021 to apply; so this should provide an idea of how many people this will eventually affect and apply to. Therefore, it is imperative for companies to start preparing now for the upcoming changes in the way that right to work will be checked, particularly where they will have to begin to use share codes to verify somebody’s right to work online, and re-adjusting from the traditional method of checking hard-copy right-to- work documentation. The role of payroll Right-to-work checks do not fall explicitly within the remit of those working within the payroll department, and are regularly completed by other departments, e.g. HR or recruitment, as they should be undertaken prior to an individual
completing any work – and so before there is any requirement to pay them. It is important to remember, however, that in some smaller businesses there may be individuals responsible for both payroll and HR or recruitment tasks, and so they need a sound understanding of the correct method of checking right-to-work documentation and how it will change in the future. Payroll professionals are also renowned for being perfectionists and for wanting to ensure total compliance, so, speaking from personal experience and from liaising with others in the profession, payroll teams will often perform secondary checks on right-to-work documentation. This is simply to ensure that payments are not made to individuals with insufficient evidence of their right to work within the UK, and to ensure that legislation is being adhered to. n
Emergency right-to-work checks A t the end of March 2020, the government announced that right-to-work checks have been
temporarily adjusted as of 30 March 2020 to make it easier for employers to perform them (https://bit.ly/2JKw6xc). However, employers must continue to check the prescribed documents, and it remains an offence to knowingly employ anyone who does not have the right to work in the UK. To conduct a right-to-work check during the temporary measures, employers should: ● ask the worker to submit a scanned copy or a photo of their original documents via email or using a mobile app ● arrange a video call with the worker, and ask them to hold up the original documents to the camera and check them against the digital copy of the documents ● record the date the check as made and mark it as ‘adjusted check undertaken on [insert date] due to COVID-19’. If the worker has a current biometric residence permit or card or status under the EU Settlement Scheme, the employer can use the online checking service (https://bit. ly/3dY9oiK) while doing a video call. The
applicant must give permission to view their details (https://bit.ly/3e1lOGA). If the job applicant or existing worker cannot show their documents, the employer must contact the Home Office employer checking service (https://bit. ly/3dY9oiK). After the COVID-19 measures end, employers are to follow the checking process set out in the Right to work checks: an employer’s guide (http://bit. ly/2UXoLhL). Employers may be asked to carry out retrospective checks on existing employees who during the period of the emergency measures started the employment and required a follow-up right to work check.
This retrospective check must be carried out within eight weeks of the emergency measures ending. If the check undertaken during the period was done in the prescribed manner, there is no need to undertake a retrospective check. If, at the point of carrying out the retrospective check, the employer finds that the employee does not have permission to be in the UK the employment must be ended. Enforcement action will not be taken against an employer that carried out the adjusted checks as set out in the guidance, or a check via the Home Office, and followed this up with the retrospective check. n
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| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward |
Issue 60 | May 2020
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