Right to Work for EU Employees: Settled Status, Pre-Settled Status, and What Employers Must Do
If you employ EU, EEA, or Swiss citizens who arrived in the UK before 31 December 2020, most of them will now have either settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme. The right to work check process for these employees looks very different from checking a passport.
There's also a significant change from 2024 that many employers haven't caught up with: you no longer need to run follow-up checks on pre-settled status holders. The employer's guide to right to work checks (June 2025) is explicit: "The Home Office no longer requires you to carry out repeat checks on holders of pre-settled status."
If you've been diarising follow-up checks for EU staff with pre-settled status, you can stop.
This guide is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. For advice on your specific situation, consult a qualified immigration solicitor.
What settled status and pre-settled status are
The EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) allowed EU, EEA, and Swiss citizens — and their family members — to secure their right to live and work in the UK after Brexit. Applications closed in June 2021 for most people, though late applications continue to be considered.
Settled status is granted to those who had lived in the UK continuously for five years or more before applying. It confirms an indefinite right to live and work in the UK — effectively the same as permanent residency.
Pre-settled status was granted to those who had lived in the UK for fewer than five years. It was initially issued for five years, but in May 2024 the Home Office changed the rules so that pre-settled status is automatically extended — the profile no longer shows a hard expiry date in the online checking system.
Both statuses are entirely digital. There is no physical document or card. Employees prove their status via a share code generated through their Home Office online account.
How to run the check
For EU employees with settled or pre-settled status, the right to work check process is the same as for any employee with a digital immigration status:
- Ask the employee to go to the Home Office "prove your right to work" service
- The employee generates a share code (starts with the letter W, valid for 90 calendar days)
- Go to the employer online right to work checking service
- Enter the share code and the employee's date of birth
- The service displays their immigration status and confirms their right to work
- Download or screenshot the result — this is your record
Do not accept a physical EU national identity card or a BRP as evidence of EUSS status. These are not acceptable proof. The share code online check is the correct method.
The old rule vs the new rule on follow-up checks
Until June 2024, pre-settled status was technically time-limited — the status expired after five years, which meant employers were supposed to run follow-up checks before that date in the same way they would for any time-limited permission.
This created a significant administrative burden. An employer with EU staff would have been tracking expiry dates for pre-settled status alongside visa expiry dates for non-EU staff.
That requirement is gone. Under the updated guidance, the Home Office "no longer requires you to carry out repeat checks on holders of pre-settled status." The online system reflects this — when you check an employee's share code, pre-settled status no longer shows as expiring on a fixed date.
The reasoning: pre-settled status is now automatically extended unless the person actively loses their eligibility (by spending extended periods outside the UK). Since there's no longer a hard expiry in the system, there's nothing to trigger a follow-up check.
What this means in practice:
- Settled status: one check at hire, no follow-ups needed (same as a UK passport holder)
- Pre-settled status: one check at hire, no follow-ups needed (as of June 2024)
Both now function the same way from the employer's follow-up obligation perspective.
What the June 2025 guidance says about civil penalty protection
The guidance provides clear protection: "Where initial checks were correctly undertaken prior to the commencement of employment on a holder of pre-settled status, and providing you are not knowingly employing someone without the right to work, the Home Office shall not take civil penalty action against you."
This means your statutory excuse from the initial check holds, even as an employee transitions from pre-settled to settled status over time. You don't need to take any action at that transition point.
The key condition: the initial check must have been done correctly. If it was — share code verified, result downloaded and retained — you're protected.
What if an employee has neither settled status nor pre-settled status?
Some EU citizens didn't apply to the EUSS, or arrived in the UK after 31 December 2020. These employees need permission to work in the UK like any non-UK national — usually a work visa, which means they'll have an eVisa and prove their right to work via the same share code process.
If an EU employee can't prove their right to work and tells you they're "waiting to hear back" from the Home Office about an EUSS application or appeal, you'll need to contact the Employer Checking Service to verify their status. The ECS will issue a Positive or Negative Verification Notice depending on their situation.
EU employees hired before Brexit
If you hired EU employees before 31 December 2020 — before the EUSS closed — you may have conducted right to work checks using EU national identity cards or passports at the time. That was the correct method then.
You don't need to retrospectively re-check those employees. Your original check gave you a statutory excuse that hasn't lapsed just because the rules changed. However, if you choose to re-verify (for example, when updating your records), use the current share code method.
Keeping your records up to date
Even though follow-up checks are no longer required for EUSS status holders, your initial check record is still important:
- Keep the downloaded result of the share code check for the duration of employment plus two years after the employee leaves
- Record the date you made the check
- Note which checking method was used (online share code check, date, result)
This is your evidence of a compliant initial check — the basis of your statutory excuse if the Home Office ever questions an employee's status.
For a full guide to what records the Home Office expects, see our employer's guide to ongoing RTW compliance for the full compliance lifecycle, including retention periods and what inspectors look for.