Evidencing Employees Right to Work in UK

Reference: 25-26078

Date response sent: 03/06/2025

Details of enquiry

, I would like to request the following information:

1a. A copy of any policies that set out how the Trust ensures that employees have a legal right to work in the UK, and how these policies are enforced.

1b. A copy of any records or audits, from within the last two years, that set out details as to how far these policies are complied with.

1c. The job title and grade of the person (or people) responsible for overseeing and enforcing this policy? (For the avoidance of doubt, I am not seeking any personal information other than job title and grade).

2a. A copy of any policies that set out how the Trust ensures that employees contracted through third parties have a legal right to work in the UK, and how these policies are enforced.

2b. A copy of any records or audits, from within the last two years, that set out details as to how far these policies are complied with.

2c. The job title and grade of the person (or people) responsible for overseeing and enforcing this policy. (For the avoidance of doubt, I am not seeking any personal information other than job title and grade).

3a. Information that sets out, for each of the last three years, how many asylum seekers were hired on a temporary right to work visa by the Trust.

3c. Information that sets out, for each of the last three years, how many asylum seekers were registered volunteers at the Trust.

3d. A copy of any policy concerning how you ensure that asylum seekers who are registered volunteers are not replacing paid roles.

4a. Information that sets out, for each of the last three years, how many checks have been conducted due to expiration of a Positive Verification Notice of a Temporary work visa.

5a. Information that sets out, for each of the last three years, how many employees had an employment contract terminated due to a change in their immigration status?

6a. Information regarding any schemes or partnerships that your Trust has with charities or other external organisations that support or promote the employment of foreign nationals, asylum seekers or those who have recently successfully claimed asylum. I am seeking information on the name of the charity or organisation and any partnership agreement or document that sets out the nature of the relationship or scheme

Response sent

A copy of any policies that set out how the Trust ensures that employees have a legal right to work in the UK, and how these policies are enforced.

The Trust follows guidance provided by NHS Employers which is publicly available here: Right to work checks standard | NHS Employers

1b. A copy of any records or audits, from within the last two years, that set out details as to how far these policies are complied with.

We do not have a summary record; our ESR (Electronic Staff Record) generates monthly notifications about existing staff and those at recruitment stage, from 3 months prior to expiry of the right to work, for the People Team to follow up and ensure compliance is maintained (ie that visas or passports are renewed).

The People Team would then follow up to ensure that the employee produces updated or new permit to work documentation in a timely fashion.

We are happy to paste below you a blank pro forma report, devoid of staff’s personal details, which illustrates the reporting fields, (blue fields), for the data required to populate these monthly reports. In Row 2 we have provided explanations of the data types required for each field, and “Self-Explanatory” indicates this exactly, without further explanation.

	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H	I	J
1	Employee Number	Last Name	First Name	Title	Directorate	Division	Team	Staff Group	Contract Hours	Residency Status
2	Self-Explanatory Data Fields
3
4

K	L	M	N	O	P	Q	R	S	T
Source Document	Reference Number	Valid From Date	Valid To Date	Source Document Checked	Additional Document	Additional Valid to Date	Visa Valid to Date	Days to Approaching Visa Valid to Date	Nationality
Named Document submitted by applicant/ staff as per NHS requirement	Share Code Number	Self Explanatory Data Fields				Reported by exception (only when outstanding) as monthly management reporting		Actual number of days remaining valid	Self-Explanatory

The Trust is witholding past non-compliance reports (we manage this by exception only), because, as you can see in the pro forma above, these reports consist entirely of personal data, which is exempt from disclosure under FOIA exemption 40(2) which the Trust has engaged. Section 40(2) permits the withholding of personal data of a third party, where disclosure would not be permitted under Data Protection Act 2018). This is an absolute exemption and does not require the public interest test.

Chief People Officer –Board member

2a. A copy of any policies that set out how the Trust ensures that employees contracted through third parties have a legal right to work in the UK, and how these policies are enforced.

The 3rd party agencies are responsible for this when supplying temporary staff, and any recruitment from them for directly employed staff would be managed as part of the recruitment process.

2b. A copy of any records or audits, from within the last two years, that set out details as to how far these policies are complied with.

The Trust does not hold this data – see our response to Question 2a above

2b. A copy of any records or audits, from within the last two years, that set out details as to how far these policies are complied with.

Not applicable. See our response to Question 2b above

Chief People Officer –Board member

3a. Information that sets out, for each of the last three years, how many asylum seekers were hired on a temporary right to work visa by the Trust.

The Trust does not hold this information, at this Trust it is not a mandatory requirement to record this data. The Trust hires staff who have the right to work, here and can provide documentary evidence of this.

3c. Information that sets out, for each of the last three years, how many asylum seekers were registered volunteers at the Trust.

Not applicable. The Trust does not hire volunteer workers.

3d. A copy of any policy concerning how you ensure that asylum seekers who are registered volunteers are not replacing paid roles.

Not applicable. – See our response to Question 3c above.

4a. Information that sets out, for each of the last three years, how many checks have been conducted due to expiration of a Positive Verification Notice of a Temporary work visa.

This is routinely conducted on a monthly basis, driven by our standard management reporting. – See our response to Question 1b above

5a. Information that sets out, for each of the last three years, how many employees had an employment contract terminated due to a change in their immigration status?

Nil