Right to work · Share code

The right to work share code, from the employer's side.

Direct answer

A share code is a 9-character code a worker generates through the gov.uk View and Prove Your Right to Work service. The worker hands the code to you, and you verify it on the Home Office Check a Job Applicant's Right to Work service by entering the share code plus the worker's date of birth. The service shows the worker's name, photo, immigration status, and any work conditions. The check is free, takes under two minutes, and — if done correctly before employment starts and the record retained for the full retention period — establishes the statutory excuse against an illegal-working civil penalty. The service is at: check-job-applicant-right-to-work on gov.uk.

Who this applies to: UK employers carrying out a pre-employment right-to-work check on a worker who has presented a share code — and HR, recruitment, and operations leads who need to know exactly what to do with it and what to record.

Regulated by the Immigration Advice Authority

The three valid check methods

Share code is one of three — and the only one for most non-UK workers.

There are three Home Office-prescribed right-to-work check methods. Each establishes the statutory excuse if carried out correctly. Which one applies depends on the worker's nationality and the documents they hold.

→Online check via share code — for any worker whose right to work is held digitally on the Home Office system. This is the default for most non-British, non-Irish workers post-2021.

→IDVT digital identity check — for British and Irish citizens with a valid passport. Carried out through a Home Office-certified Identity Service Provider (IDSP).

→Manual document check — for British and Irish citizens (where IDVT is not used), workers with older paper documents, or fallback when an online check is not possible. Original document, photographed, with the date of check recorded.

→If a worker offers a share code, use the share code method. Do not run a manual check in parallel — it adds no statutory excuse and creates inconsistent records.

→Manual checks of photocopies, scans, emailed PDFs, or expired documents do not establish the statutory excuse.

How the share code works

Share code mechanics.

Code format

Alphanumeric, dash-separated (typically the form W123 ABCD E). Generated by the worker, not the employer.

9 characters

Where the worker generates it

The worker logs into gov.uk/view-prove-right-to-work, confirms the purpose of the check (employment), and the service issues a share code.

gov.uk View and Prove

Where the employer verifies it

Employer uses gov.uk/check-job-applicant-right-to-work — different service from the worker's.

gov.uk Check a Job Applicant

What the employer enters

Both required. The DOB confirms the code belongs to this worker and not a substituted person.

Share code + worker DOB

Validity of the code

After 30 days the code expires and the worker must generate a fresh one. Always check the share code within 30 days of generation, ideally on the day it is given to you.

30 days from generation

Cost

No charge to the employer or the worker.

Free

Mechanics as published on the Home Office Check a Job Applicant's Right to Work service. Always verify the current process on gov.uk at the time of the check — the service is occasionally updated.

The check — step by step

What to do when a candidate gives you a share code.

The check itself is short. The discipline is in doing it before the worker's first day, in recording the right things, and in keeping the record for the full retention period. The first two are where most employer mistakes happen; the third is where compliance visits catch them.

→1. Go to the Home Office Check a Job Applicant's Right to Work service on gov.uk

→2. Enter the worker's share code (9 characters) and the worker's date of birth

→3. Review the result page — name, photograph, immigration status, work conditions (full-time, part-time hours cap, conditions on type of work)

→4. Confirm the photo on the result page is the person you are recruiting — reasonable visual match

→5. Confirm the immigration status, expiry date, and any work conditions are consistent with the offer you are making (full-time work, role within any restriction)

→6. Save or print the result page as a PDF — this is the document you retain

→7. Record the date of the check on the file, alongside the share code, the worker's DOB, and your name as the person who carried it out

→8. If the result page does not match the worker, the status is restricted in a way that conflicts with the offer, or the share code is expired or invalid — do not proceed with employment until you have taken regulated advice

What to record and retain

The records that establish the statutory excuse.

A correctly carried-out share code check only establishes the statutory excuse if the records are kept correctly. The retention rule is the part most employers underestimate — and it is the rule a Home Office compliance officer will most often find missing.

→A PDF or printed copy of the share code result page — including the worker's photo, name, status, and conditions

→The share code itself (recorded in the personnel file)

→The worker's date of birth

→The date the check was carried out

→The name of the person who carried out the check

→Retention period: during the worker's employment AND for 2 years after they stop working for you. Records destroyed before the 2-year point do not establish the statutory excuse.

→Digital storage is acceptable — but records must be retrievable on request, including during an unannounced compliance visit

Time-limited workers

Follow-up checks: when the share code result has an expiry date.

If the worker's right to work is time-limited — almost always the case for sponsored workers — the share code result will show an expiry date. A follow-up check is required at that point. Missing the follow-up check is one of the most common right-to-work compliance breaches we see at audit.

→Diary the follow-up check date the moment the initial check is recorded

→The follow-up check is carried out the same way as the initial check — a fresh share code, verified through the same gov.uk service

→If the worker has been granted further leave by the Home Office, their existing share code can typically be re-generated and re-verified

→If the worker's right to work has expired and not been extended, you cannot continue to employ them — the statutory excuse no longer applies and continued employment is a civil penalty risk

→Sponsored workers also trigger sponsor reporting duties at the same moment: changes in immigration status are 10-working-day reportable events

When share code is not the right method

The fallback to manual or IDVT.

Most non-British, non-Irish workers will give you a share code. A small number will not — and the right answer is not to refuse to employ them. It is to use the correct alternative check method for their circumstances.

→British or Irish citizen with valid passport — use the IDVT digital identity check via a certified IDSP (or a manual check on the original passport if IDVT is not used)

→Worker has an older paper document or a digital status that the share code service does not cover — manual check on the original document, with the date of check recorded

→Worker has lost access to their share code account — direct them to gov.uk/get-help-share-code or have them generate a fresh code, do not accept a screenshot or photo of a previous result page

→Share code result is unclear or the worker's photo does not match — do not proceed; take regulated advice before any employment decision

→A share code is never acceptable in place of a manual check on a paper document that does not show on the digital service — using the wrong method does not establish the statutory excuse

What goes wrong

The five right to work share code mistakes we see most often.

→Carrying out the check on the worker's first day instead of before — the statutory excuse only attaches to a check completed before the worker starts work

→Recording the share code but not saving the result page — leaving the file looking complete but missing the document that proves what the check actually showed

→Destroying the record after the worker leaves but before the 2-year point — turning a defendable position into an indefensible one

→Missing the follow-up check on a time-limited worker — continuing to employ them after their right to work has expired

→Accepting a screenshot or PDF of a previous share code result from another employer instead of generating a fresh check — the previous check does not transfer

How Harveys helps

What we do for employers building a defensible right-to-work process.

Most employers do not need ongoing help with individual share code checks — once the process is set up correctly, the checks run themselves. Where we help is at the design stage, when something has already gone wrong, or when you hold a sponsor licence and right-to-work compliance sits inside the broader sponsor-duty framework.

→Right-to-work process design — building the policy, checklist, and retention discipline once, so the team can run it

→Right-to-work audit — structured review of recent checks against current Home Office rules, before a compliance visit identifies the gaps

→Civil penalty response — urgent regulated work where a check has already been challenged or a notice has been served

→Audit-Ready Sponsor Compliance retainer — for licensed sponsors, right-to-work compliance is included alongside sponsor duties and reporting

→All work delivered under IAA Level 1 regulation — Regulation No. F202537009

Common questions

Questions employers ask us.

A 9-character alphanumeric code that a worker generates through the gov.uk View and Prove Your Right to Work service. The worker gives the code to a prospective employer, who verifies it on the Home Office Check a Job Applicant's Right to Work service by entering the share code plus the worker's date of birth. The result page shows the worker's name, photo, immigration status, and any work conditions.

30 days from generation. After 30 days the share code expires and the worker must generate a fresh one. Always carry out the check within 30 days of the share code being issued — ideally on the day the worker hands it to you. Do not accept a share code that is past its 30-day validity.

The share code itself (9 characters) and the worker's date of birth. The DOB is the cross-check that confirms the code belongs to this specific worker and has not been substituted. You enter both on the Home Office Check a Job Applicant's Right to Work service at gov.uk/check-job-applicant-right-to-work. The service is free.

During the worker's entire period of employment with you, plus a further 2 years after they stop working for you. Records destroyed before the 2-year point do not establish the statutory excuse. Digital storage is acceptable, but records must be retrievable on request — including during an unannounced Home Office compliance visit.

Yes — for any worker whose share code result shows an expiry date (which includes most sponsored workers). The follow-up check is a fresh share code, verified the same way, on or before the expiry date. Missing the follow-up check is one of the most common right-to-work compliance breaches we see — and it triggers parallel sponsor reporting duties for licensed sponsors.

Use the correct alternative method for their circumstances. British or Irish citizens with a valid passport can be checked via an IDVT digital identity check through a certified Identity Service Provider, or via a manual original-document check. Workers with older paper-only documents are checked via the manual route on the original document. The wrong method — for example a manual check where a share code is the prescribed route — does not establish the statutory excuse.

Related services & resources

IAA

Regulated immigration advice

Harveys Legal is regulated by the Immigration Advice Authority.

Firm Reg No. F202537009. Verify on the IAA register before engagement.

Need a right-to-work process that holds up to a Home Office compliance visit? Talk to us.

We help UK employers design, audit, and operate right-to-work check processes that establish the statutory excuse — not processes that look right on the surface but fail at the visit. Book a consultation. Harveys Legal supports immigration applications, sponsor compliance preparation and related legal processes. Final decisions remain with the Home Office or relevant decision-maker.

Book a Consultation →See sponsor compliance retainer

Harveys Legal supports immigration applications, sponsor compliance preparation and related legal processes. Final decisions remain with the Home Office or the relevant decision-maker.