The temporary Covid-19 adjusted right to work check measures will now end on 30 September 2022, and not 5 April 2022 as the Home Office had previously announced.
The temporary changes allow right to work checks to be carried out over video calls and for job applicants and existing workers to send scanned documents or a photo of their documents to employers via email or a mobile app, rather than sending the originals. These measures have been in place since 30 March 2020.
If right to work checks are carried out in the prescribed manner or as set out in the Covid-19 adjusted checks guidance employers will maintain a statutory defence against a civil penalty.
The decision to extend the deadline for the adjusted right to work check measures has been made because of the new right, as of 6 April 2022, for employers to use government-certified "identification document validation technology" (IDVT) to check the right to work of UK and Irish citizens who hold a valid passport. The deadline has been extended to allow employers sufficient time to develop commercial relationships with identity service providers and make the necessary changes to their pre-employment checking processes.