Right to Work: how platforms can avoid onboarding bottleneck

The UK’s expanded Right to Work requirements came into effect on 1 October, following a very compressed implementation period and final employer guidance that itself wasn’t published until 1 October. 

As a registered Right to Work digital verification service provider, Veriff has been working with several major platforms on their onboarding changes ahead of 1 October – and we’ve seen how much depends on their existing tech stack. 

Some have needed relatively straightforward changes, while others have had to rework processes built for an entirely different legislative environment. Where existing onboarding doesn’t map onto the new requirements, one of the main pressure points is the manual handling introduced into otherwise automated processes. 

Automated verification is the easy bit

The automated steps of document verification and face-matching take under a minute with the right verification provider. The real challenge is routing workers through the appropriate verification journeys.

British and Irish passports require different checks from eVisas. Sign-up with these passports can be largely automated, while eVisas include an online Home Office check with a share code and date of birth. 

In practice, this introduces a manual step: the Home Office does not currently provide an API through which employment platforms can retrieve the results directly. The delay is also not always within the platform’s control. A customer of Veriff reported that problems with the Home Office service were pushing share-code responses beyond the expected window.

Once the Home Office record has been retrieved, the platform must verify that the photo matches the worker being checked. This can be done in person, by video call, or through facial recognition with a registered provider. 

How quickly this manual stage happens depends on the processes underpinning it. Veriff can match the Home Office photo to a worker’s selfie, for example, limiting the need for a follow-up call or in-person meeting. Employment platforms will still need to assign a named team, set a realistic turnaround time, and define an escalation process for manual checks. That team needs to be resourced to reflect peaks in registrations and avoid unnecessary delays. 

An interface that makes it clear to applicants if they have any documentation outstanding and doesn’t refer them for manual checks until all documentation is available also helps to maximise efficiency. 

Designing a practical onboarding journey 

For teams building a sign-up process that avoids delays and bottlenecks, the focus needs to be on qualifying and routing applicants early. Platforms with existing onboarding logic that treats every document alike will need to update their infrastructure to quickly qualify British and Irish passports from eVisas. They also need a route for those with a right-to-work, but who cannot prove it through the usual digital process, such as manual checks or, where appropriate, the Employer Checking Service. 

The final guidance published by the Home Office states that businesses must keep a copy of the online right-to-work result for as long as the person works for them, plus an additional two years. If using facial recognition to match the worker to the photograph, then employment platforms must use a registered Right to Work digital verification service provider, like Veriff, for those comparisons. Businesses must also keep a copy of that comparison alongside the online result.

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What happens after onboarding?

One of the biggest changes in the new rules applies to online matching services and platforms that allow workers to send replacements. They must have “proportionate systems and processes” in place to make sure the person doing the work has a confirmed right-to-work. Any substitute also needs their own check before they start. This doesn’t apply to businesses using agency staff in a standard supply arrangement, and the agency remains responsible for the checks.

Periodic re-verification is one way platforms can provide that ongoing assurance. The Home Office recommends it happens at least once in any 24-hour period or shift.

Account renting and sharing are a known problem for large platforms, and some were tackling it well before the rules changed. Platforms we work with already run repeat identity checks, with a selfie matched against the biometrics on file each week or each day.

Making checks work in practice

Now that the requirements are live, the first weeks of sign-ups will show where applications get held up and whether post-onboarding checks work as intended. 

If you’re struggling to implement the new checks or need to address an onboarding bottleneck, contact the Veriff team. We can support right-to-work identity checks and ongoing re-verification.