Right to Work Checks for Temporary Recruitment – 5 key considerations when using IDVT technology

Recruitment agencies have significantly benefited from the advent of IDVT as a lawful and feasible option for conducting Right to Work checks. This technology verifies temporary staff and contractors remotely, eliminating the need for in-person meetings.

While this innovation seems promising, it’s become evident through our discussions with various agencies that relying solely on IDVT doesn’t fully address all the concerns and needs they initially hoped it would.

This article delves into five fundamental limitations IDVT poses that could create compliance, onboarding operations, and profit-related challenges for recruitment agencies. Simultaneously, it examines whether an integrated Right to Work checking solution could comprehensively answer these challenges.

1. All IDVT checks require an ‘Imposter Check’ 

Recruitment Agencies must check that the person on the document reviewed via IDVT is the person presenting themselves for work. The Home Office created this rule as they understand that any IDVT document check can be undermined by someone else taking their place. 

Friends, or imposters, covering for each other has been a problem for years in the recruitment industry. Still, on a practical level, it’s challenging to combat this without incurring costs and delays when placing temporary staff. Practical options for this problem include sending a PDF of the check by email or printing them off and checking each person as they walk through the door manually, all of which results in additional time for your teams being spent on verification processes.

An all-in-one IDVT solution will help identify which workers require an Imposter check and includes the functionality to complete that task quickly and easily via a secure mobile app anywhere, including on-site. In practical terms, an IDVT app will bring up the workers face for the consultant to check and verify they are the same and record the task. More importantly, this functionality can be used to check any worker at the gate, either by the agency or even the client, to protect you against the problem of imposter workers. 

2. Not all workers can be checked remotely

There are now three Right to Work checking options:

1. IDVT Checks (Remote)
2. Digital Checks (Via share code) 
3. Physical Checks (In-person with documents). 

If your candidate does not have a current British or Irish Passport or online digital share code, then you have no choice but to conduct a physical in-person check with their original documents as laid out by the Home Office. In other words, you will need to switch from one checking option to another, adding complexity to your process. This might be manageable in small quantities, but if you are dealing with higher volume recruitment, it becomes an administrative burden. 

But regardless of which Right to Work check is employed, incorporating an IDVT platform is crucial for streamlining the recruitment process. Such a platform accelerates the hiring and enrolment phase and integrates the outcomes back to the recruiter app and HR portal swiftly, usually within 60 seconds. 

This quick turnaround facilitates prompt decision-making and alleviates administrative burdens, especially in high-volume recruitment scenarios, allowing for a focus on more strategic tasks. It aids in effortlessly navigating between different checking options, ensuring meticulous compliance and integrity throughout the various check processes.

An all-in-one IDVT solution will help identify these workers and automates the assignment of checks towards the physical route. This potentially could be between 20% to 30% of your temporary staff, depending on the immigration profile of your workers. 

3. There will be more share codes in the future

The Home Office has indicated that more overseas individuals will have online immigration accounts (share codes) soon. This is welcome news, given that recruitment agencies operating an IDVT approach can check workers remotely over video. 

However, for volume recruiters, keying in 9-digit share code details and dates of birth into the Home Office website is time-consuming and prone to mistakes. It will also mean that new eVisa types will appear on top of the 12 already issued by the Home Office.

Some eVisa are high-risk for your business because they contain conditions and additional actions and are subject to a limited time with a fixed document expiry date. Whoever reviews these documents must understand the implications and remember to collect evidence of terms, dates or a PVN (positive verification notice).

An all-in-one IDVT solution will have the intelligence and functionality to help you automate the collection of eVisas, analyse them and flag any that require immediate attention. Your IDVT solution should also run facial recognition, or Imposter Checks, to ensure that share codes are not being ‘shared’ between similar individuals! 

4. Candidates don’t always do what you want

Not all candidates can be relied upon to immediately complete a Right to Work check on themselves using IDVT and some can make mistakes. Speaking to some of our customers, if the check is not completed within seven days, then it's highly unlikely that it will ever be completed, so delegating this task to candidates can delay your ability to place them in a role.

However, an all-in-one IDVT solution has the intelligence to track IDVT checks from request to completion. It will include automated emails and text messages to chase candidate completion, all without your team having to get involved.

An all-in-one IDVT solution should also provide the option to complete the task via both email and text links, as many candidates prefer to have the flexibility offered by presenting them with two options, which, in turn, leads to increased completion rates.

5. Physical checks might be quicker and more cost-effective

IDVT has revolutionised the recruitment industry, offering national coverage and legally permitting agencies to subcontract tasks through an IDSP. This technology benefits not only agencies but candidates as well. However, in situations where physical checks are plausible, relying on DVT can introduce unnecessary complexity and additional layers of management, which are absent in traditional face-to-face checks.

In the past, many agencies avoided technology due to its perceived unnecessary cost and opted for manual document scanning and uploading activities instead. However, as the future of Right to Work checks is becoming increasingly digital, the importance of automation in driving profits is becoming evident. Agencies that once resisted technological advancements must reconsider their approaches to remain competitive.

Despite technological advancements, many high-volume recruiters still conduct most of their checks face-to-face. This is because there is no need to send out requests for imposter checks, allowing them more control over the process and not having to wait for candidates to complete their checks. This method is operationally more convenient for many agencies.

An all-in-one IDVT solution provides variety and flexibility to meet varying client needs and recruitment operations. It ensures recruiters have the necessary tools to conduct compliant physical checks on all kinds of immigration documents or share codes without additional training for consultants.

Choosing the right IDVT Partner for your Recruitment Business

IDVT technology has revolutionised Right to Work checks in recruitment, enabling remote verification and offering streamlined operations, especially when faced with candidates who have complex immigration statuses. However, it has limitations and challenges concerning compliance, onboarding, and profitability. The mandatory imposition of ‘Imposter Checks’ illustrates the critical need for authenticity, and the prospective increase in online immigration accounts underscores the importance of adaptability and precision in document verification.

Despite the advances, the preference for and reliance on traditional face-to-face checks persist among many high-volume recruiters, emphasising the need for a balanced and adaptive approach. An integrated Right to Work checking solution, such as Rightcheck, stands out as a pivotal necessity, combining the benefits of technology and traditional methods, ensuring flexibility, reducing errors, and aligning with diverse immigration scenarios.

For friendly, no-obligation guidance to understand the developments in Right to Work checks, IDVT technology and what it means, or to talk through your current approach to Right to Work checks and identify potential compliance exposures - don’t hesitate to get in contact with the Rightcheck team at 02476 158 830 or email sales@rightcheck.io.