During an audit we found some illegal agency workers on one of our sites and it came to light that the recruitment agency we use does not conduct right to work checks (as in physically see and document evidence), they stated that it is unworkable to actually look at right to work documents as they are working remotely and not near the agency.

is this normal practice ?

We conduct right to work checks on all of our core staff, the agency staff we use are out on site (power, oil&gas and rail) so we would have the same logistical problem conducting physical checks

I’ve recently seen an agency on-boarding pack and yes, proof of right to work in UK was on the list.

Yep, I work in recruitment and that’s part of our process, there’s pretty big fines in place if it can be proved that they’ve not taken reasonable steps to ensure their workers are able to work in the UK.

They don’t even need to meet them if pushed, though it’s good practice to do so, a copy of a passport and a couple of signed docs can do the job if needed.

I’d politely tell them to do one and find another, better, agency.

they stated that it is unworkable to actually look at right to work documents as they are working remotely

Tell the agency that paying them is “unworkable” due to them not providing the service that they should be.

They don’t even need to meet them if pushed, though it’s good practice to do so, a copy of a passport and a couple of signed docs can do the job if needed.

Our auditor said the original need to be seen and checked, otherwise how would you know if they are real? (i assume you accept email copies?)

in our case we had a copy of the workers passports on file (emailed over) but the passport numbers where identical on several which kicked off the investigation.

https://www.gov.uk/check-job-applicant-right-to-work

You must see the applicant’s original documents
You must check that the documents are valid with the applicant present.
You must make and keep copies of the documents and record the date you made the check.
You could face a civil penalty if you employ an illegal worker and haven’t carried out a correct right to work check.

Checking the documents
You need to check that:

– the documents are genuine, original and unchanged and belong to the person who has given them to you
– the dates for the applicant’s right to work in the UK haven’t expired
– photos are the same across all documents and look like the applicant
– dates of birth are the same across all documents

We meet everyone as the level we work at it’s expected.

We were told by an auditor “reasonable steps to ensure their workers are able to work in the UK” could be interpreted as verified copies of passports via e-mail. The view was this was not good practice but may be permissible.

However, if you don’t feel comfortable without face-to-face verification tell the agency to do one, you can demand it as part of the deal.