Right to Work Self-Declaration (UK)

A Right to Work Self-Declaration in the United Kingdom is a legally binding written instrument.

The statutory right to work checking regime in the United Kingdom is governed by sections 15 to 25 of the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006. Under section 15, an employer who employs a person subject to immigration control who does not have the right to work is liable for a civil penalty unless they have a statutory excuse. A statutory excuse is established by carrying out a compliant right to work check — obtaining, checking, and retaining a copy of an acceptable document from the Home Office's published list — before employment begins. Section 21 of the 2006 Act creates a criminal offence for knowingly employing an illegal worker, carrying a maximum sentence of five years' imprisonment.

The civil penalty for employing an illegal worker was increased by the Immigration (Employment of Adults Subject to Immigration Control) (Maximum Penalty) (Amendment) Order 2024 to £60,000 per illegal worker for a first breach where the employer had no statutory excuse. The Home Office administers the civil penalty regime and publishes a code of practice on avoiding unlawful discrimination while conducting right to work checks — compliance with this code is relevant both to the employer's statutory excuse and to their obligations under the Equality Act 2010.

For EEA and Swiss nationals who hold pre-settled or settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme (granted under the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020), the only valid method of right to work checking since 6 April 2022 is the Home Office online checking service at gov.uk/view-right-to-work. These individuals cannot use their passport or national identity card alone. British and Irish citizens continue to use manual document verification — typically a UK passport, Irish passport, or UK birth certificate combined with a National Insurance number document.

The UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 require employers to process the personal data collected during right to work checks with a lawful basis under Article 6. Compliance with a legal obligation under Article 6(1)(c) is the appropriate basis, as the check is required by the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006. Employers must inform employees of how their right to work data will be processed and retained, and must not retain copies of documents beyond the period required by the Home Office code of practice — currently two years after the employment ends. The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) supervises compliance with the UK GDPR. The forms-legal.com Right to Work Self-Declaration (UK) template is designed to complement the employer's right to work checking process and document the employee's own declaration consistently.

A Right to Work Self-Declaration form is needed in the United Kingdom before employment begins, as part of the employer's pre-employment right to work checking process under the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006. The following situations require this document.

All new starters regardless of nationality should complete a right to work self-declaration at the point of offer acceptance or before their first day of work. Having every new employee complete the same form — rather than selectively requiring it only from employees who appear to be foreign nationals — is an essential safeguard against racial discrimination claims under the Equality Act 2010. The Home Office code of practice on avoiding unlawful discrimination specifically states that checks must be applied consistently and in the same way to all workers.

Agency workers supplied through a staffing agency or umbrella company are the responsibility of the agency for right to work purposes, but the end-user employer (the hirer) has its own obligations under the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003. Where there is any doubt about whether the agency has carried out a compliant check, obtaining a self-declaration from the worker provides an additional layer of protection.

Workers on zero-hours contracts under the Employment Rights Act 1996 must be checked before their first assignment, not just before a permanent offer is made. Employers who use zero-hours workers for occasional or seasonal work sometimes overlook this requirement, exposing themselves to civil penalties.

Follow-up checks are required when an employee's time-limited permission to work is due to expire. The employer should retain the expiry date from the initial right to work check and obtain a fresh self-declaration and document verification before that date. Under section 3C of the Immigration Act 1971, an employee who has applied to extend their leave to remain before the current permission expired retains their right to work while the Home Office application is pending.

Where the Home Office online checking service is used — for example for EEA/Swiss nationals with EU Settlement Scheme status — a self-declaration form remains useful as a supplementary record of the employee's declared status and the share code used, creating a complete audit trail alongside the printed or saved online check result.

A UK Right to Work Self-Declaration form should include the following key elements to create a reliable record and support the employer's statutory excuse under the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006.

The employee personal details section captures the employee's full legal name (as it appears on their identity document), date of birth, and National Insurance (NI) number. The NI number is used by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to administer Pay As You Earn (PAYE) income tax deductions and National Insurance contributions under the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003.

The nationality and immigration status section requires the employee to declare their nationality and the basis of their right to work — for example: British citizen; Irish citizen; EEA/Swiss national with EU Settlement Scheme settled status; person with indefinite leave to remain; person with limited leave to remain (with expiry date); or other status. The declaration of status must match the documents being presented.

The document type section lists which documents from the Home Office's List A or List B the employee is providing for verification. For List B documents (time-limited right to work), the expiry date must be recorded so that the employer can diarise the repeat check.

The online check section (where applicable) records the Home Office share code, the date on which the online check was carried out, and the name of the person who carried out the check on behalf of the employer. Since 6 April 2022, EEA and Swiss nationals with EU Settlement Scheme status must use the online service.

The employee declaration requires the employee to confirm that the information provided is accurate and complete, and to acknowledge that providing false information is a criminal offence under section 24B of the Immigration Act 1971 and the Fraud Act 2006.

The employer verification section records the name and job title of the person who checked the documents, the date of the check, and confirms that the documents appeared genuine and related to the employee presenting them. Copies of the verified documents must be retained for two years after the employment ends under the Home Office code of practice.

The data protection notice confirms that personal data collected on the form will be processed under UK GDPR Article 6(1)(c) (legal obligation) and retained in accordance with the employer's data retention policy. The forms-legal.com Right to Work Self-Declaration (UK) template incorporates all of these sections and can be downloaded as a PDF or Word document.