Even though a lot of companies have not yet re-opened their offices and their staff are working from home, on 21 June 2021 the Government is bringing to an end the temporary arrangements for checking new employee’s documents. Note that originally the Government had published that this would end on 16 May, but swiftly did a u-turn, thank goodness.

Come 21 June, the requirements revert to pre-Covid arrangements which means employers must either see the original documents or use the Employer Checking Service if that applies.

We just thought we would flag this in case you wanted to get on this week and take advantage of doing those checks remotely before then because retrospective checks are not required. Any checks made from March 2020 to 20 June 2021 in line with the temporary arrangements will be just fine!

As a reminder, the Covid arrangements are:

• Candidates send scanned copies of the appropriate documents to you. You arrange a video call to view the document sent to you and check they match. Mark the copy sent to you as “adjusted check undertaken on [insert date] due to COVID-19”.
• If an employee has a biometric residence permit or EU SS status, you can check their status with them on a video call.
• If the candidate cannot provide the required documents, use the Employer’s online checking service.

These checks are important, particularly for those businesses holding a sponsor license who might have an audit visit from the Home Office, to comply with the requirements to prevent illegal working.

For more information, see here