In the recent King’s Speech delivered by Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour Government, a significant focus was placed on the upcoming Digital Information and Smart Data Bill. This bill is poised to revolutionise various aspects of digital identity verification with implications for businesses conducting Right to Work checks.
Our team has reviewed the associated Government background briefing document on the King’s Speech, relating to the forthcoming Digital Information and Smart reference is made regarding the establishment of Digital Verification Services:
“The Bill will harness the power of data for economic growth. We are giving a statutory footing to three innovative uses of data that people can choose to participate in and which will accelerate innovation, investment and productivity across the UK.
This includes establishing Digital Verification Services, which make people’s everyday lives easier through innovative and secure technology. These measures support the creation and adoption of secure and trusted digital identity products and services from certified providers to help with things; like moving house, pre-employment checks, and buying age-restricted goods and services.”
The key question is what does a ‘statutory footing’ mean for conducting Right to Work checks?
Firstly, it is important to understand that these critical pre-employment checks have no bearing on the need to conduct them. Since the introduction of the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act in 2006 there has been a statutory obligation on all employers (regardless of size, or industry sector) to conduct a Right to Work on all candidates, prior to the commencement of employment. This legal obligation on employers is not changing.
On 6 April 2022, the UK government introduced the concept of the identity service provider (IDSP). Employers can use an IDSP to utilise Identification Document Validation Technology (IDVT) to carry out a digital Right to Work check on behalf of British and Irish citizens who hold a valid passports (including Irish passport cards).
This has created the ability to conduct the checks remotely as opposed to physical, in-person checks with the candidate. For many industries, this development has been liberating – supporting a new post-Covid environment where more jobs have evolved into a remote/hybrid working pattern and consequently so has the approach to hiring.
For this purpose, the Government recommended businesses utilise a government-certified IDSP; what will change with this forthcoming bill is that this ‘recommendation’ will become ‘statutory’.
Rightcheck is the industry-leading IDSP and has held Government certification since the introduction of this standard. Any employee, or recruiter who is unclear about these developments is urged to make contact – we would be delighted to explain further and demonstrate how Rightcheck can digitise traditional, manual approaches to conducting Right to Work checks and in the process save businesses time and money.