Follow-up Right to Work checks: when they're needed and how to track them

Not every Right to Work check is a one-time event. If an employee's permission to work in the UK is time-limited, your statutory excuse against a civil penalty is time-limited too — you need to check again before it runs out, or you risk losing that protection even though you did everything right the first time.

Who needs a follow-up check?

It comes down to which document list the original check was based on — see our Right to Work checks guide for the full detail:

• List A (e.g. a British/Irish passport, or indefinite leave to remain) — no follow-up check ever required. The statutory excuse is continuous for the whole time you employ that person.
• List B (e.g. a visa with an expiry date) — a follow-up check is required before that permission expires, for as long as you continue employing them.

Someone with status under the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) also doesn't need a follow-up check while that status remains valid.

Exactly when to do it

Official guidance is direct on timing: the follow-up check should take place on, or before, the date the employee's current permission comes to an end. There's no fixed number of days before expiry mandated by law — but leaving it until the exact expiry date is cutting it fine if the employee has any difficulty producing evidence, or if you need to contact the Home Office to verify their status.

In practice, most employers build in an earlier buffer — commonly checking in at 90, 60, and 30 days before expiry — so there's time to chase an unresponsive employee, deal with a delayed renewal application, or contact the Home Office's Employer Checking Service, all before the statutory excuse actually lapses.

If the employee has an outstanding application

If, by the expiry date, the employee has an in-time application to extend or vary their permission (or a pending appeal/administrative review), your statutory excuse can continue for a further grace period of up to 28 calendar days, giving you time to obtain a Positive Verification Notice from the Home Office's Employer Checking Service or complete an online check. This grace period only applies to an employee already in post when it starts — it does not apply to a check being carried out before someone starts employment.

If a follow-up check comes back negative — confirming someone no longer has the right to work — continuing to employ them after finding that out removes your statutory excuse entirely for that person going forward.

What to keep as evidence

A follow-up check must be documented the same way as the original: a copy of the document or online check result, and a dated record of when the check was carried out. Keep this for the duration of employment and for two years afterwards.

This guide summarises the Home Office's published employer guidance as at the review date above — always confirm current timing and grace-period rules against the live gov.uk employer's guide before relying on this for a real compliance decision.