You can do everything you think is right and still get hit with a massive fine. That’s exactly what happened to a fish and chip shop owner in Surrey.
They thought they’d covered all the bases. The person they hired had a National Insurance number, benefit paperwork and was already on PAYE with another employer. Everything looked legitimate.
But the Home Office disagreed, and the business was fined £40,000.
Where It Went Wrong
The employee had presented forged documents. The business owner never physically saw the original passport, which would have revealed the forgery.
That single missed step invalidated their entire right to work check. All the other paperwork meant nothing.
It’s easy to assume that having a National Insurance number or P45 proves that someone can work legally in the UK. It doesn’t. These documents can be issued before someone’s visa expires or immigration status changes. They’re not proof of current right to work.
What You Actually Need to Do
The rules around right to work checks are stricter than most people realise. Here’s what’s required:
You must physically inspect original documents or use approved digital identity verification services. Digital copies sent via email or photos on a phone don’t count unless you’re using a certified IDSP (Identity Document Validation Technology).
Take clear copies of the documents and record the date you checked them. This creates your statutory excuse against civil penalties.
Complete everything before the person starts work. Not on their first day. Before. Even one day of employment without a valid check leaves you exposed.
Keep records for the whole employment period plus two years after they leave. The Home Office can investigate historical cases, and without those records, you have no defence.
Miss any of these steps and you lose your legal protection. It doesn’t matter what else you did right.
Sadly, the Home Office doesn’t care if you acted in good faith or if your business only has three employees. They’re treating businesses of all sizes equally when it comes to enforcement.
The Reality of Enforcement
Right to work checks aren’t just paperwork exercises anymore. The Home Office is actively targeting businesses, and the fines keep getting bigger.
It can be £60,000 per illegal worker if you’re a repeat offender. For most small businesses, that’s enough to cause serious financial damage or even closure.
The Surrey case shows that it can happen to anyone. The business owner had no idea they were hiring someone illegally, but that didn’t matter when the fine arrived. Ignorance isn’t a defence, and good intentions don’t reduce the penalty.
Protecting Your Business
Right to work checks aren’t bureaucracy for the sake of it. They’re protection for your business against crippling fines and potential criminal prosecution.
Take an honest look at your current process:
Are you physically checking original documents for every new employee? Not just glancing at them, but properly inspecting security features and checking expiry dates?
Are you keeping proper records? Clear copies, dated, stored securely where you can find them if the Home Office comes calling?
Does everyone involved in your hiring process know these rules? If you have managers, supervisors or anyone else who hires staff, they all need to understand what’s required.
If you’re not confident about any part of your right to work process, get it sorted now. It’s a lot easier to put a system in place today than try to fix things after the damage is done.
At Starfish People, we help businesses implement compliant right to work checking systems that actually work in the real world. We can audit your current process, train your team and give you the confidence that you’re protected.
Get in touch if you want help setting up a system that protects your business. It’s better to get this right from the start than learn the hard way like the Surrey chippy owner did.
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Helen Price-Evans, HR Guru, Starfish People HR
