Illegal working penalties: codes of practice for employers
Statutory codes of practice to help employers prevent illegal working and understand the civil penalties they face when they employ illegal workers.
Because of coronavirus (COVID-19) there are temporary changes to the way you can check documents. Read guidance about the adjusted process, including asking for documents digitally, making checks on a video call, and what to do if someone cannot provide any accepted documents.
This collection includes codes of practice for employers on:
- preventing illegal working – including how the Home Office calculates a civil penalty
- avoiding discrimination when carrying out right to work checks
You can also read our quick guide to checking a job applicant’s right to work documents.
Read the employer guidance on how to check whether an employee or prospective employee has the right to work in the UK.
The quarterly reports show the civil penalties for illegal working issued to non-compliant employers in each region of the UK.
Current codes of practice for employers
These codes of practice set out the current prescribed checks that employers should conduct to avoid a civil penalty and current guidance for employers on how to avoid discrimination when carrying out right to work checks.
Past codes of practice for employers
These codes of practice have been superseded by the current codes of practice shown above.
However, previous codes of practice apply when the period of employment started during the time that the code was current, and where no repeat check of an existing employee’s right to work has been required.
Updates to this page
Last updated 2 June 2021 + show all updates
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Information separated to show current codes of practice and historic codes of practice.
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Because of coronavirus (COVID-19) there are temporary changes to the way you can check documents. Added a link to guidance about the adjusted process.
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Updated codes of practice
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First published.