As of April 6th 2022, the Home Office is outsourcing digital ID checking. This means that for any employee digital checks, businesses will have to use an approved third-party software which could cost between £1.50 and £70 per employee!
Previously, employee checks were don’t physically by checking their passports and using visual verification. From March 2020 when remote working was used by the vast majority of businesses, virtual checks were allowed, which meant employees holding their passports whilst on a video call.
This has now led to the pending change of employee checking. What is quite concerning is that as of the time this article is being written, there are currently 0 approved third-party software providers that can carry out these checks.
We will continue to keep our readers up to date with this issue, including approved third-party software, as businesses could still be fined up to £20,000 per new employee if they hire a new employee that is not using their ID which could have been prevented if Government checks had been used.