Right to work checks for restaurants and takeaways ​

Before anyone starts working for you, you must check that they are allowed to work in the UK. Done properly, before the first shift, the check gives you a “statutory excuse”: if the person later turns out not to have the right to work, you will not have to pay the civil penalty. Done late, done only for some staff, or not recorded, it gives you nothing. Since 1 October 2026 the rules also reach further than employees. This guide covers what a restaurant, café, pub or takeaway needs to do.

Check everyone, before they start ​

• Before the first shift. The check must be done before the person starts work, not in their first week.
• Everyone, the same way. Check every new starter, including British citizens. Checking only people you think might be migrants is unlawful discrimination, and so is assuming someone’s status from their name, accent or nationality.
• You stay responsible. A manager or another member of staff can carry out the check for you, but if it is not done as the Home Office prescribes, the penalty falls on the business.

Three ways to check ​

The Home Office accepts three kinds of check. Which one you use depends on the person’s nationality and status. You cannot insist on one method; give the person a reasonable chance to prove their right to work.

1. The online check, with a share code. The person gets a share code from GOV.UK (it starts with “W” and lasts 90 days). You enter it with their date of birth on the “Check a job applicant’s right to work” service, and check that the photo is of the person in front of you, in person or on a video call. Anyone with an eVisa can only prove their right to work this way. It is not enough to look at the person’s own view of their status or a printout of it.
2. The manual check, with original documents. You see the original documents with the person present, check they are genuine and belong to them, and check that photos and dates of birth match. A scan, photo or video of a document does not count. British and Irish citizens can use, for example, a passport. Biometric residence permits can no longer be accepted; ask for a share code instead.
3. A digital check through a registered provider. A certified and registered digital verification provider can check British or Irish passports (or Irish passport cards) digitally, including a face match. Not everyone has one or wants a digital check, so always offer another way.

Check what they are allowed to do ​

• Dates. For anyone who is not a British or Irish citizen, check that their permission to work has not expired.
• Limits. Check whether their permission limits the type of work or the number of hours, and keep the job within those limits.
• Students. Many international students can work only limited hours in term time, often 10 or 20 hours a week, counted from Monday to Sunday. They can work full time in their vacations. Ask for the term dates and check them before giving full-time hours.

Keep copies and dates ​

• Make a copy of each document or the online check result that cannot be altered, such as a PDF or photocopy. For a passport, copy the pages with the holder’s details, photo and expiry date, and any visa or permission.
• Record the date you did the check.
• Keep the copies for as long as the person works for you and for two years after they leave, in line with data protection law.

Follow-up checks ​

If someone’s permission to work is time-limited, check again before it expires. If they have an application or appeal pending with the Home Office and cannot show their status, ask the Employer Checking Service. A Positive Verification Notice from it gives you a statutory excuse for six months.

What changed on 1 October 2026 ​

The Right to Work Scheme now covers more than employees. For arrangements entered into on or after 1 October 2026, it also covers:

• people engaged on a worker’s contract, such as casual staff supplied by an employment business;
• individual sub-contractors, such as someone who takes delivery jobs through an app, where the platform is treated as the employer;
• online matching services that match individuals with customers;
• extended liability: in some contracting chains, and where someone sends a substitute in their place, a business can be liable for workers it did not engage directly.

The test is how the arrangement works in practice, not what the contract calls it. A genuinely independent business that advertises to the public and works for many customers, such as a plumber you call out, is not covered. If you engage people directly on a casual, self-employed or per-job basis, for example your own delivery drivers, check whether they now fall within the scheme. Arrangements entered into before 1 October 2026 are not brought into scope just because the work carries on.

What happens if you get it wrong ​

• Civil penalty: up to £45,000 per illegal worker for a first breach, and up to £60,000 for a repeat breach within three years. A correct check made at the right time means you do not pay it.
• Your name may be published in the list of employers given penalties.
• Your licences: a penalty is grounds to review, suspend or revoke an alcohol or late night refreshment licence, and immigration officers take part in licensing inspections. See our guide to opening a takeaway.
• Closure: serious or repeat offenders can have their premises closed temporarily by a closure notice.
• Prison: knowingly employing someone without the right to work is a criminal offence, with up to five years in prison and an unlimited fine.

A short checklist ​

• A right to work check for every new starter, before their first shift.
• The same check for everyone, whatever their nationality.
• The right method for each person: share code, original documents or a registered provider.
• Work limited to what their permission allows, including students’ term-time hours.
• A copy that cannot be altered and the date of the check, kept for two years after they leave.
• A reminder before any time-limited permission expires.
• Casual, self-employed and per-job workers reviewed against the 1 October 2026 rules.

Sources ​

• UK Visas and Immigration and Immigration Enforcement, Right to work checks: an employer’s guide, version in force from 1 October 2026: the three types of check, share codes, copies and retention, follow-up checks, students, the scope of the scheme from 1 October 2026 (examples 1 to 6 and Annex C), sanctions, closure notices and licensed sectors.
• Home Office, Code of practice on preventing illegal working: Right to Work Scheme for employers, 1 October 2026: civil penalty levels.
• UK Visas and Immigration, Checking a job applicant’s right to work: biometric residence permits no longer accepted, copies kept for two years after employment.
• UK Visas and Immigration, Penalties for employing illegal workers: the criminal offence and publication of employers.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. For your own staff, use the Home Office employer guide or ask an immigration adviser.