Guide • Compliance • 14 min read
Right-to-work checks in Ireland and the UK
Hvordan verifisere en kandidats rett til å arbeide i Irland og Storbritannia, unngå sanksjoner for ulovlig arbeid og holde samsvarende registre.
Why right-to-work checks matter
Employers in Ireland and the UK have a legal duty to ensure that everyone they employ is permitted to work. Getting this wrong exposes the business to civil penalties and, in serious cases, criminal liability. It is the local equivalent of the US I-9 process, but the rules, documents and record-keeping requirements are different and must not be conflated.
The right approach is to check consistently for every new hire, not selectively, because inconsistent checking risks discrimination claims. Build the check into your standard onboarding workflow so it happens the same way every time.
Situasjonen i Irland
Irish and EEA/Swiss nationals have an automatic right to work in Ireland. Non-EEA nationals generally require an employment permit (such as a Critical Skills Employment Permit or a General Employment Permit) or another permission that allows employment, such as certain immigration stamps. The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment administers the employment-permit system.
Arbeidsgivere bør verifisere personens nasjonalitet og, der det er relevant, se og registrere riktig tillatelse eller innvandringssamtykke før ansettelsen begynner. Å ansette en ikke-EEA-borger uten påkrevd tillatelse er en overtredelse, så oppbevar dokumentasjon på kontrollen og noter eventuelle utløpsdatoer slik at tillatelsene fornyes i tide.
Situasjonen i Storbritannia
In the UK, employers must carry out a prescribed right-to-work check to establish a statutory excuse against a civil penalty for illegal working. Since Brexit, EU nationals no longer have an automatic right to work and must evidence their status, most commonly through the online share-code service or under the EU Settlement Scheme.
Det finnes tre veier: en manuell dokumentkontroll, Home Office sin nettbaserte kontrolltjeneste (ved bruk av en share code), eller bruk av en sertifisert Identity Service Provider for visse dokumentinnehavere. Følg den gjeldende veiledningen fra Home Office nøyaktig, fordi listen over godkjente dokumenter og prosessene oppdateres med jevne mellomrom.
Register, timing og gjentatte kontroller
Carry out the check before employment starts, retain a clear dated copy of the evidence for the duration of employment and for a defined period afterwards, and store it securely in line with the GDPR. For people with time-limited permission, schedule a follow-up check before their permission expires.
An HRIS helps by storing right-to-work evidence against each employee record with restricted access, and by triggering reminders ahead of expiry dates. This turns a compliance risk into a routine, automated step rather than something that depends on an individual remembering to act.
