Eligibility to Work in the UK Checks - Freelancers

[Pauline Ferguson]

Our business will shortly be bringing on board a number of self employed contractors and I am wondering whether we are legally required to conduct eligibility to work in the UK checks for them?

 

[SDLBiz]

As they are self-employed, you are simply using their services and not employing them on your payroll and as a result, you don't need to worry about their eligibility to work as they are responsible for that.

 

[Margaret Desir]

Hi,

I believe that you still need to check their eligibility to work in the UK, even if they work for you on a self employed basis, and to avoid being discriminatory, you will have to carry out these checks on everyone, even if they are UK nationals.

You can find all the info you need on the Gov UK website, and see below:-

Who Doesn't Need Permission to Work?

The main groups not subject to immigration control and who are employable without restriction are:

• British citizens
• Commonwealth citizens with the right of abode in the UK
• European Economic Area (EEA) and Swiss nationals - although some will need to register with the Home Office. * NB - It's important to contact the Home Office to establish if a potential employee comes from one of the permitted countries in the EEA.
• Family members of nationals from EEA countries and Switzerland, providing that the EEA national is lawfully residing in the UK.

Margaret Desir LL.B (Hons), Assoc CIPD
Shakespeare Davenport Limited