When is a sponsored worker's next right to work check due, and how do we stop missing it?

For a worker with time-limited permission, the follow-up right to work check must be done on or before the day their permission ends. Doing it on time keeps your statutory excuse against a civil penalty, and for a sponsor, missing checks puts the licence at risk too. The legal date comes from the worker's permission, so take it from the last check, not from memory. Then set your own reminder well before it, 60 to 90 days works for most teams, and keep every worker's dates in one register that somebody reviews every week.

What does a sponsor have to check, and when?

Before a worker starts, and again before time-limited permission ends (Part 2, S1.40). This applies even if you believe the worker is British or settled, and it applies when a worker changes job within your organisation: the change must be approved and the checks done before they start the new role (Part 2, S9.14). Failing to carry out checks is likely to lead to revocation (Part 2, S1.43), and sponsoring a worker without permission after failing to check is a normal revocation ground (Part 3, Annex C2(d)).

The civil penalty for employing someone without the right to work can be up to £60,000 per worker, set case by case (Employer's guide).

Which date is the legal date, and which is ours?

• Legal check date

  On or before permission ends

  Set by the worker's permission. Do the follow-up check on or before this day to keep your statutory excuse.

• Internal reminder

  60 to 90 days earlier

  Set by your policy, not the law. Time to contact the worker, get a share code or evidence, do the check and escalate.

• The register

  One list for every worker

  Both dates for every sponsored worker in one place, with an owner, reviewed every week.

A date written in one worker's file is easy to miss. Spread across 40 sponsored workers, the dates fall in different weeks and months.

How do we carry out the follow-up check?

Use the method that fits the worker's circumstances, as set out in the current Employer's guide. Workers with an eVisa prove their right to work online with a share code, which you check on GOV.UK's employer service; share codes begin with "W" and last 90 days. Keep a dated record of when the check was made: a date written on a photocopy is not enough. Keep copies of the checks for the length of employment and 2 years after it ends.

What if an application is pending when permission ends?

Where the worker applied before their permission ended, your statutory excuse can continue for up to 28 calendar days from the expiry date, provided you carry out a check with the Employer Checking Service. A Positive Verification Notice gives a statutory excuse for 6 months; a Negative Verification Notice ends it. Diary the response, and if the legal date has passed with no check, stop and take advice the same day.

The reminder date can move with your policy. The legal date cannot.

Who should own the register?

1. HR ownsKeeps the register, carries out the checks, files the evidence and sets the next dates.
2. Recruitment addsAdds every new starter to the register on day one, with both dates.
3. Coordinator informsPasses on anything a worker says about their visa or an application.
4. Manager reviewsReviews due and overdue checks each week and decides escalations.
5. Escalate earlyReminder reached, 30 days, 14 days and expiry each trigger a set action.

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This article gives general information, not legal advice. Guidance checked on 11 November 2026. Check the current guidance and your own circumstances before acting.

Free Working Pack 03: right to work follow-up planner

A four-page planner that brings every worker's dates into one register, with an earlier internal reminder and a weekly review. It covers:

1. Setting a legal check date and an internal reminder for each worker.
2. A one-line-per-worker register.
3. A weekly due and overdue review.
4. An escalation route for missing evidence or a close deadline.
5. What to do when an application is pending at expiry.

Get free Working Pack 03

Sponsor ComplIANS Live, 26 November 2026

Sponsor ComplIANS Live is a practical day for payroll, HR, coordinators and managers in care providers that sponsor workers. It covers why care providers are losing sponsor licences, who does what across HR, payroll, recruitment and coordinators, and a full demonstration of the Hub.

• When: Thursday 26 November 2026, 9am to 5pm
• Where: Leicester Marriott Hotel
• Paid by 11:59pm UK time on Thursday 19 November: £699 + VAT for the first attendee and £300 + VAT for each additional attendee booked together
• After that: £999 + VAT and £600 + VAT

Attending does not guarantee compliance or any outcome with the Home Office.

Book your place

In the Sponsor ComplIANS Hub, Right to Work shows each worker's current check and the date their next follow-up check is due, with reminders at 60, 30 and 15 days. The follow-up date is the one your team records. The Right to Work page is part of Sponsor Compliance Core; the Free plan keeps basic Right to Work and visa dates on each worker record. See the Compliance Hub

Related questions

When is a follow-up right to work check due?

On or before the date the worker's time-limited permission ends. Take the date from the last check you made, and set your own reminder well before it.

What if the worker has applied to extend their permission?

If they applied before their permission ended, carry out an Employer Checking Service check. Your statutory excuse can continue for up to 28 days from expiry, and a Positive Verification Notice gives 6 months.

How long should we keep right to work check copies?

For the length of employment and 2 years after it ends. That is longer than the general sponsor record-keeping period, so keep them for the longer of the two.