Digital Work Checks

In September 2025, the Government announced a plan to introduce a requirement for all workers to be able to produce a digital ID to demonstrate their right to work in the UK. The scheme is intended to combat illegal working. The Prime Minister confirmed that digital IDs will be mandatory as a means of proving the right to work, meaning that anyone who is unable to produce their digital ID will not be permitted to take up work. 

Employers are already under a legal obligation to carry out checks on prospective employees to establish their right to work in the UK and this can be done in several ways. Although there are other ways that the right to work can be demonstrated, usually the process involves checking a person’s passport or undertaking an online check using a share code provided by the person.

The scheme will be available, for free, to all UK citizens and legal residents. The new IDs will be entirely digital, sitting in a GOV.UK digital wallet that can be accessed via an individual’s smartphone. Other means of access will be developed for those without access to a smartphone. 

Although full details of the requirements are not yet available and are not likely to be for some time, it is anticipated that employers will be required to record that they have checked a prospective employee’s digital ID to show that they have complied with their legal obligation. 

The new scheme is intended to be in place by the end of this Parliament, which is 2029. Failure to comply with the existing requirement to carry out right to work checks can result in a fine of at least £45,000.

Digital IDs will be part of a new streamlined digital right to work check system designed to simplify the process, drive up compliance and crack down on forged documents. They will also provide data that can be used by the Home Office to act against employers who hire those without the right to work in the UK, which includes civil penalties of up to £45,000 for each illegal worker employed, increasing to £60,000 per worker for repeat offences. 

The new digital ID will be the authoritative proof of who someone is and their residency status in this country. It will include their name, date of birth, information on nationality or residency status and a photo — as the basis for biometric security — just like an eVisa or Passport. 

A public consultation will be launched later this year to inform the Government’s decisions on how this service will be delivered and the exact information to be included with the IDs.