URS-AS-007

Right to Work, Identity and Worker Eligibility

Public alignment statement

Episodic ICCE recognises right to work, identity and worker-eligibility assurance as a regulatory area shaped by illegal-working legislation, Home Office checking rules, digital identity verification, data-protection duties, equality duties, sponsor-compliance material and the scheduled expansion of the right-to-work scheme from 1 October 2026. The area creates expectations for prescribed checks, worker identity evidence, person matching, work-permission and restriction control, expiry monitoring, follow-up checks, fair treatment, controlled recordkeeping and source-aware evidence retention.

Those expectations are practical, external-authority-led and evidence-sensitive. For temporary labour activity, they require responsible organisations to distinguish identity from immigration status, a check from the underlying status, statutory-excuse evidence from permission to work, right-to-work eligibility from employment status, digital identity verification from Home Office authority, sponsor duties from employer duties, and time-limited permission from inferior or discriminatory treatment.

ICCE aligns with this regulatory area for ICCE-routed temporary-labour activity by preserving controlled evidence across worker identity intake, external check route, Home Office or provider result, person match, proposed work, work restrictions, expiry, follow-up, admission decision, block, review and remediation history. ICCE supports responsible worker-admission assurance by making the source, date, trust state, permitted reliance and limitation of eligibility evidence attributable. ICCE does not grant immigration permission, create a statutory excuse, conduct Home Office checks by assertion, act as the Home Office, act as Immigration Enforcement, act as an immigration adviser, act as a licensed sponsor by default, certify digital identity services, determine civil or criminal liability, or guarantee that illegal working cannot occur.

Episodic maintains a continued alignment commitment by reviewing this statement where right-to-work legislation, Home Office guidance, statutory codes, prescribed document lists, online-service rules, Employer Checking Service requirements, digital verification rules, sponsor guidance, data-protection requirements, equality guidance, October 2026 implementation sources or ICCE-routed evidence controls are amended, replaced, superseded or materially clarified.

Alignment table

Expectation Relevant sources ICCE enforced alignment ICCE evidence / output
Pre-start right-to-work control and statutory-excuse evidence Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006; employer’s guide to right-to-work checks; February 2024 preventing-illegal-working code ICCE enforces a pre-work eligibility gate and preserves the check route, result, timing, person match and permitted reliance evidence for ICCE-routed workers Worker record, employer record, check method, check date, result, person-match evidence, retained output, admission or block record
Illegal-working risk, adverse evidence and action chronology Immigration Act 2016; Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006; Employer Checking Service; preventing-illegal-working code ICCE preserves when adverse, expired, revoked, contradictory or insufficient eligibility evidence was received and what action followed Alert record, reviewer action, work restriction, continued-work decision, block, escalation, Home Office or external outcome
Manual, online, digital and Employer Checking Service routes Employer’s guide; right-to-work checklist; Home Office share-code checking service; Employer Checking Service; February 2024 preventing-illegal-working code ICCE distinguishes prescribed check routes and preserves the evidence required for each route rather than treating any identity document or screenshot as sufficient Manual-check record, document list reference, Home Office online result, share-code check output, PVN or NVN, checker and retention record
Time-limited permission, restrictions and follow-up checks Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006; employer’s guide; Home Office share-code service; Employer Checking Service; preventing-illegal-working code ICCE preserves restriction, expiry and follow-up states so time-limited evidence is not treated as unrestricted or permanent Restriction record, permitted work reference, expiry date, follow-up due date, Positive Verification Notice period, repeat-check outcome
Identity verification and digital right-to-work evidence Supplementary code for digital right-to-work checks 1.0; Home Office online service; employer’s guide; digital-check equality impact assessment ICCE preserves digital-provider identity outputs as externally sourced evidence while keeping Home Office status, person matching and employer responsibility distinct Provider identity, code version, digital output, assurance reference, person-match record, alternative-route evidence, provider incident or expiry record
Data minimisation, privacy and controlled visibility Data Protection Act 2018; UK GDPR; employer’s guide; digital verification sources ICCE limits identity and eligibility evidence to the stated purpose and preserves access, source, retention, correction and disclosure controls Lawful-basis reference, source record, restricted data field, access log, disclosure log, retention state, correction or deletion evidence
Non-discrimination and fair checking process Equality Act 2010; current avoiding-discrimination code; revised avoiding-discrimination code from October 2026; digital-check equality impact assessment ICCE supports consistent process design, route alternatives and restricted visibility so eligibility checks are not based on assumptions about nationality, appearance or document type Population rule, check-stage record, route offered and selected, accessibility or assistance record, decision reason, complaint and remediation record
Current scheme and October 2026 transition control Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025 section 48; Immigration prescribed-requirements amendment Regulations 2026; revised preventing-illegal-working code; draft-code consultation and change trigger; consultation response on extending the scheme ICCE maintains effective-dated source status and distinguishes the operative employer scheme from the expanded scheme commencing on 1 October 2026 Scheme-version record, commencement date, work-start date, repeat-check date, duty-holder mapping, transition decision, implementation review
Expanded worker, subcontractor, contract-chain and online-matching scope Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025 section 48; revised preventing-illegal-working code; consultation response on extending the scheme ICCE preserves employer, engager, contract-chain, worker-contract, individual subcontractor and online-matching role evidence for the expanded scheme Contract-chain record, work-arrangement classification, duty-holder reference, worker or service-provider identity, check allocation, extended-liability evidence
Sponsor duties and sponsored-worker evidence Sponsor duties and compliance guidance; sponsor Appendix D recordkeeping duties; employer’s guide ICCE preserves sponsor, employer, worker, role, work-restriction, expiry and recordkeeping evidence without presenting ICCE as the licensed sponsor Sponsor reference, Certificate of Sponsorship reference where applicable, role and location evidence, work-restriction record, sponsor evidence pack, Home Office request log
Work restriction and actual-work compatibility Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006; Home Office online service; sponsor duties guidance; revised codes from October 2026 ICCE keeps the proposed work, hours, role, sponsor condition and location evidence connected to the right-to-work result so permission is assessed against the work in question Role and work record, hours restriction, sponsor or employer restriction, location condition, mismatch alert, block or remediation evidence
Source-status and service-change discipline Employer’s guide; revised codes; Home Office online service; Employer Checking Service; supplementary digital code; prescribed-requirements amendment Regulations 2026 ICCE maintains source-status discipline for changing Home Office services, prescribed methods, digital-provider frameworks, statutory codes and follow-up rules Source-status register, code version, service-status record, provider-status update, method-change review, versioned alignment update

Sources covered

Primary legislation and statutory instruments

Current and transitional right-to-work guidance

Digital and Home Office services

Document control

URS-AS-007

Right to Work, Identity and Worker Eligibility Alignment Statement

Version
2.1
Status
Public alignment statement
Publication date
10 July 2026
External alignment category
Right to work, identity and worker-eligibility assurance

Alignment and evidence-support statement only. External legal, regulatory, enforcement, certification, decision-making and implementation authority remains with the responsible authorised party.