Right to Work (RTW)
What is a Right to Work Check (RTW)?
As an employer, we must carry out right-to-work checks to establish that each one of our employees and casual workers has the right to work in the UK. We are legally obliged to do this in order to satisfy our obligations to the Home Office (under the 2006 Immigration, Nationality and Asylum Act).
As such the HR team meet with all employees, casual workers, and Tier 5 sponsored visa holders to carry out a right-to-work check before they can start work at the University. In addition, those with time-limited right to work in the UK (i.e. those who hold a ‘List B’ document such as a visa) must have a repeat check before their visa/document is due to expire.
The University has a Staff Immigration Team providing free and impartial advice and guidance on immigration matters to current and prospective employees, visitors, and their accompanying dependants.
Find out more about the University's RTW process.
What do I bring for my RTW check?
The Home Office splits categories of documents that are acceptable as proof of the right to work in the UK broadly into two types:
List A documents:
Permanent proof of right to work – no repeat checks are required during employment
Applies to British/Irish passport and Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) and Settled status visa holders
List B documents:
Time-limited right to work – a repeat check must be done for ALL List B’s before the document expires if employment is expected to continue
Applies to those who hold a work visa/Biometric Residence Permit holders i.e. Global Talent, Skilled Worker, Tier 4 student visa, Tier 5, dependant visa
We will advise you which original documents you need to show us on your first day of employment to prove that you have the right to work in the UK.
Individuals Requiring a Visa
If you require a visa to take up a role here, a member of the HR team will be in touch with you directly at the offer stage to discuss the visa application process and to share the right set of forms for the relevant application. Any questions relating to this process can be sent to @email
Consequences of Non-Compliance
We are obliged as employers to conduct right-to-work checks before employment can start. As a department, we have many years of experience dealing with a wide range of complicated visa arrangements.
However, requirements do change, the biggest and most notable recent example being Brexit, which has meant changes for many of us. Working closely with our colleagues in Staff Immigration Team, we will ensure that your experience of applying for a visa goes smoothly, learning from our experiences to continuously improve our processes.