The UK government has announced some significant changes to both the Right to Work and the Right to Rent schemes. These important updates will come into force in October and will affect employers, landlords and individuals. It’s important to understand ahead of time what this could mean for you or your organisation.
The purpose of these changes is essentially to curb the number of people working illegally, and stop businesses employing people who are not legal to work. On the renting side of things, the new updates will ensure that landlords check whether someone is eligible to rent a property.
So in this article, we will look at how the Right to Work scheme will now cover a much wider area (including the many different types of employment which are so common today) as well as what landlords need to be aware of when they rent a property.
Let’s get started.
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What new forms of work are covered by the Right to Work scheme?
As mentioned, the Right to Work scheme will now encompass new areas of employment. This is due to the massive changes in the ways in which we all work today – whether it’s flexible, platform-based, or outsourced employment. The goal is to close that loophole, particularly when an individual is providing services to a business but is not technically employed by them.
As it stands, employers are already responsible for carrying out Right to Work checks on employees and face penalties if they employ someone who does not have permission to work in the UK. What these updates do is widen these obligations so companies that hire workers through other contractual and sub-contractual arrangements also need to ensure the person has the right to work. In some cases, the liability on employers may even extend further down the labour supply chain.
What should employers do?
For now, organisations should know they will be liable for civil penalties relating to illegal working and that will include contractors, subcontractors, agency workers or other forms of flexible labour. Businesses will need to do some important housekeeping and consider how workers are currently engaged and whether their existing immigration compliance processes are fit for purpose in the future.
It’s also a time to review contracts and relationships with agencies, contractors and subcontractors to understand clearly where responsibility for immigration sits. If you want to understand this in more detail, you can read the full government guidelines here.
Changes affecting the Right to Rent
There are also important changes coming in October which will affect landlords and anyone involved in the property sector. The updated Right to Rent scheme will set out new requirements for landlords and letting agents to check whether prospective tenants have the legal right to occupy property in the UK.
The updated guidance clarifies which residential letting arrangements fall within the scheme, who may be liable for a civil penalty where checks are not carried out correctly, and how landlords and agents should conduct and record Right to Rent checks.
What should property professionals do?
Property owners and letting agents should review the updated government guidance before October, and to be aware of the updated requirements and statutory code of practice. If you want to learn more about changes to the Right to Rent, you can read the full details from the government here.
Right to Work and Right to Rent: New rules for digital checks
Across the board, there is an increased digitisation of the immigration process in the UK, with digital document verification at the centre. The intention is to make immigration and identity checks more secure and efficient while also giving individuals better choice over how they provide and share personal information. For employers, this will likely make digital verification an increasingly important part of recruitment and onboarding.
What’s important to note is that organisations choosing to use digital verification services for Right to Work or Right to Rent checks must use government-registered digital verification service providers (DVSPs). This is intended to provide greater assurance that digital checks are being carried out through reliable providers.
Working with an immigration lawyer
The changes outlined above show that the labour market has changed a great deal, with businesses increasingly relying on outsourcing, contracting, agency workers and platform-based work.
Because of this, the associated regulations have had to be updated and extended. When a large swathe of changes like these come in, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed, particularly when the rules can vary depending on how your organisation engages workers. Talking to a business immigration specialist can really help you understand your responsibilities and identify any steps you need to take to remain compliant.
Getting advice early can also help you avoid potential problems further down the line. So if you are concerned about what the new updates mean for your organisation, please contact us today.
