Right-to-work / visa expiry checks
A follow-up right-to-work check for any staff member whose permission to work is time-limited, carried out on or before their current permission expires.
A follow-up right-to-work check for any staff member whose permission to work is time-limited, carried out on or before their current permission expires. This is per-employee, not a single venue-wide date — set one reminder per member of staff on a time-limited visa, dated to their own expiry.
Employing someone after their permission expires without a fresh check loses your statutory excuse against an illegal working penalty, currently up to £60,000 per illegal worker, and can affect your ability to sponsor staff in future. The deadline is fixed to the individual's document, not to when you happen to notice.
Who this is for
Any venue employing staff whose right to work is time-limited, including sponsored visa holders.
What you’ll hold
- Right-to-work check evidence (date-stamped)
- Follow-up check schedule per employee
Watch out for
- Filing the original check away and never diarising the follow-up, so the first anyone notices is when the employee's card stops working.
- Leaving the check until the expiry date itself — do it before, so there is time to sort a problem without a gap in employment.
- Not keeping a note of which staff need follow-up checks at all, especially after a change of manager or ownership.
Sources
- GOV.UK — Check a job applicant's right to work checked 2026-09-02
See also
- Right-to-work checks before the first shift— this becomes part of getting open →
This is item 51 of 60 in the free UK Compliance Calendar. See the whole list →