Right to Work Check Software: What Small Employers Should Look For

If you're searching for right to work check software, you've probably already noticed the gap: most tools on the market handle the identity verification step at hire, and nothing else. They confirm the document is genuine, charge you per check, and that's it.

For a micro-employer with 5-15 staff, the hire-moment check isn't the hard part. The hard part is tracking visa expiry dates 12 months later, running follow-up checks on time, and proving to the Home Office that your process was consistent. That's where most software falls short.

Separate the checking method from the tracking problem before you shortlist anything. There are three prescribed ways to run the check itself — a manual document check, the Home Office online share code service, and a digital right to work check through a registered digital verification service provider (RtW DVSP). Software choice doesn't change which of those you're allowed to use; it changes what happens to the record afterwards.

This guide is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. For advice on your specific situation, consult a qualified immigration solicitor.

The two types of RTW compliance software

The market splits into two categories, and understanding the difference saves you from buying the wrong thing.

Identity verification tools (per-check services) verify that a document is genuine at the point of hire. They connect to government databases, run biometric checks, and confirm the person is who they say they are. You pay per check — often £5–15 each. They solve one problem: "Is this document real?"

Compliance tracking tools monitor the ongoing obligations after the initial check. They record expiry dates, send follow-up reminders, maintain an audit trail, and help you manage the follow-up check requirements in the Code of Practice. They solve a different problem: "Am I still compliant 18 months after hiring?"

Most small employers need the second category more than the first. A manual document check at hire takes 10 minutes. Remembering to re-check a visa-holding employee's status before their permission expires in 14 months — while running the rest of your business — is where things go wrong.

Features that matter for ongoing compliance

When evaluating RTW compliance software, here's what to prioritise if your goal is ongoing compliance (not just hire-moment verification):

1. Expiry date tracking and automated reminders

The non-negotiable feature. The software should store visa and permission expiry dates and alert you well before they expire — at 90, 60, 30, 14, and 7 days. A single missed expiry can cost you your statutory excuse and expose you to fines of up to £45,000 per worker.

2. Follow-up check scheduling

Different document types have different follow-up schedules. List B Group 1 requires a check before the permission expiry date. List B Group 2 requires checks every 6 months. The software should know the difference and schedule accordingly — see our guide to ongoing compliance for how these schedules work.

3. Audit trail

If the Home Office visits, you need timestamped proof that every check was done on time. Good software generates this automatically: who was checked, when, what documents were verified, and the outcome. A well-organised audit trail is your strongest evidence.

4. 28-day grace period management

When a visa expires and the employee has a pending application, you have exactly 28 days to verify their status through the Employer Checking Service. Missing day 28 means losing your statutory excuse. The software should track this countdown for you.

5. Employee register

A central view of every employee's RTW status: who has permanent right to work (List A), who has time-limited permission (List B), and who needs a follow-up check next. This is what you review monthly to stay ahead of expiry dates. For a starting register, see our right to work checklist template.

6. Room for non-employees in the register

Ask what the register can hold, not just what it tracks. Since the 1 October 2026 expansion of the right to work scheme took effect, the people you need dates for are no longer only the ones on payroll — casual and worker's-contract engagements are in scope too, for engagements commencing on or after that date — and a tool that keys every record to an employee will quietly leave them out.

Features that matter less than you think

Biometric verification. Unless you're a large employer processing hundreds of hires a month, manual document checks are perfectly adequate. The Home Office doesn't require biometric verification — a human check of original documents is sufficient.

Digital right to work checks through a provider. Since 1 October 2026 the provider route is a registered right to work digital verification service provider (RtW DVSP); the older IDSP and IDVT terms are retired. The employer's guide says a RtW DVSP can check British and Irish passports up to 6 months past expiry, "verify acceptable documents from List A and List B of Annex A when and where they are available from the issuing authority in a digital format", and provide facial recognition — though "Services available by RtW DVSPs will vary across the registered providers." It is a convenient way to run a check. But running a check is not the same as knowing when each visa-holding employee's next follow-up falls due — that diary is still yours to keep. And whatever a provider does for you, the liability for the check stays with you; we set out what the law actually lets you automate on the scheme in force since 1 October 2026.

Per-check pricing. Per-check models make sense for large employers with high hire volumes. For a micro-employer who hires 5-10 people a year, per-check pricing is expensive relative to the value. A flat monthly rate for ongoing tracking is more cost-effective.

What to avoid

Tools that only handle the hire-moment check. If the software doesn't track what happens after day one, it solves the easy problem and ignores the dangerous one. Follow-up checks are where small employers get caught.

Full HR platforms that bundle RTW as a minor feature. General HR software that includes RTW checks alongside holiday management, payroll, and performance reviews is overkill for a micro-employer. You'll pay for features you don't need, and the RTW functionality is usually basic — set-and-forget, with no real follow-up tracking.

Tools with no audit trail. If the software doesn't automatically record when checks were done, you'll need to maintain your own records anyway. That defeats the purpose.

The compliance gap for small employers

Here's the reality of the current market: most RTW software is built for medium-to-large employers with HR departments. Identity verification services price per check and target high-volume recruiters. HR platforms target companies with 20+ employees.

If you're a restaurant owner, care home manager, or cleaning company director with 5-15 staff and no HR department, the affordable option has been spreadsheets and calendar reminders. That works until you forget — and forgetting costs up to £45,000 per worker.

Use our penalty risk calculator to see the actual financial exposure for your business based on your team size.

Sources

• Code of practice on preventing illegal working: Right to Work Scheme for employers — GOV.UK (in force from 1 October 2026)
• Penalties for employing illegal workers — GOV.UK
• Employer's guide to right to work checks (1 October 2026) — GOV.UK (the final version, published on GOV.UK on 1 October 2026 in place of the 11 September 2026 draft; it states that it came into force on 1 October 2026 — the source of this article's 1 October 2026 scope and commencement points)