Passport request from employer after 10 years

[JUE67]

Out of the blue the global company I work for has asked all employees for copies of passports. Do they have a legal right to this after some people have been here for over 20 years? Firstly I don't have one and I'm probably not alone. Can they demand this?

 

[Lisa Thomas]

What reason have they given for asking? Is it specifically a passport or identification they have asked for?

 

[fisicx]

They can demand all they like, if you don't have a passport you can't give it to them.

I suspect however this is more to do with identification and compliance.

 

[JUE67]

They are saying it is a legal requirement for all employers to ensure someone has the right to work in the UK and this is done by taking a copy of a passport. They are saying goes they can be audited athe any time and it is a condition for them to be able to sponsor people from overseas to work in the UK .

 

[Scalloway]

Right to work checks

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploa.../Employer_s_guide_to_right_to_work_checks.pdf

As an employer, you have a duty to prevent illegal working. You should conduct document checks to make it harder for people with no right to work in the UK to unlawfully obtain or stay in employment

 

[fisicx]

They are saying goes they can be audited athe any time and it is a condition for them to be able to sponsor people from overseas to work in the UK .

Are you from overseas?

 

[The Byre]

Just write back, stating that you do not have a passport and ask for an alternative document that would keep their HR dept. happy and smiling. That gives the poor things something to do! With a bit of luck, they will ask for something else that you also do not have, thus keeping this silly game going for longer.

But no, they cannot ask for a copy of a document that you do not have - obviously!

Offer them a copy of your membership card to the Pinkprint Membership Club which is in honour of Nicki Minaj. (It's well worth it and gives you access to fan-club exclusive pre-sale tickets and VIP packages, access to future, exclusive perks throughout the year and comes complete with an exclusive dry erase board with a picture of her Minajesty on the back and a 'My Pink Friday' duffle bag.)

That'll keep 'em busy for a while!

Are you from overseas?

Then she'd have a passport, wouldn't she!

 

[Newchodge]

They have probably just appointed a new HR director who has realised they are not compliant with right to work checks. I disagree with @The Byre, they can ask for anything they need to be compliant. If you don't have what they want you cannot supply it. But there are alternatives to passports to prove that you have the right to work in this country.

 

[JUE67]

Haa Haa. Great idea
I've looked at the link from Scalloway and it highlights 'potential' employees and stipulates 'before' employment. But nothing about existing British citizens.
Can they legally demand that you supply them with some proof?
Stupidly I would assume that paying tax via HMRC amd having national insurance number etc would be enough.

 

[Newchodge]

Yes, they can legally demand that you supply proof, if they did not do so when you started work with them. Especially if you started before the checks were required. In fact they are breaking the law by not demanding the proofs. Someone can have been working illegally here (in the sense of not having the right to work) for 25 years, while paying their tax and NI as legally required.

 

[The Byre]

I disagree with @The Byre, they can ask for anything they need to be compliant.

Well, alright, yes, they can ask - they can ask for Mrs Millie Tooley, of 17 Oil Drum Lane, Siddcup, to come to their staff Christmas knees-up and recite The Ballad of Gunga Din, for all the good it'll do them!

 

[JUE67]

Are you from overseas?

No. Born and bred here. Never been abroad even. Which is why it's slightly amusing. But lots of long time employees here have their backs up now. We have also been to we all must do 52 hours of learning other people's roles a year but that's another story.

 

[paulears]

I'm surprised somebody doesn't have a passport - I realise some people never want to go abroad, but surely most people now have them - or am I just wrong?

 

[The Byre]

In fact they are breaking the law by not demanding the proofs.

I think a membership card to Nicki Minaj's 'Pinkprint' club is more than enough proof!

I once was hired to do a gig at a high security US Airforce base and we rocked up in a convoy of trucks, me at the head, driving. They had a pretty girl (Airman, 1st Class) in helmet and uniform, carrying rifle, at the gate.

She asked me for ID, "Do you have some means of identification?"

"Yes!" I told her. "I have a mole on my butt in the form of the letter 'H'."

Once she had finished laughing, that, she said, was good enough and let us all in!

 

[JUE67]

I haven't got a passport. Why would anybody have one if they aren't intending on going abroad? Can you tell I have a severe fear of flying
I'm petrified of it. We go away 3 times a year in the UK and enjoy it.
Maybe one day but I don't want to spend £80 just in case someone needs to see it.

 

[UKSBD]

I'm surprised somebody doesn't have a passport - I realise some people never want to go abroad, but surely most people now have them - or am I just wrong?

Last passport I had was a British Visitors Passport about 30 years ago.

 

[The Byre]

I still have the mole!

 

[ffox]

The employer has a legal duty to check and maintain documentation that demonstrates every employees right to work in the UK. - https://www.gov.uk/check-job-applicant-right-to-work

Read the web page and follow the link to see what documents are acceptable - https://www.gov.uk/government/uploa..._to_acceptable_right_to_work_documents_v5.pdf

Birth or adoption certificate would do it - but it must be original, or a certified copy if you've lost the original.

 

[Mr D]

No not everyone has a passport. Wife and I are mid 40s and have not been out of the country (except to Wales & Scotland) as adults. So no need to pay for a document that needs paying for again in 10 years time and again and again. We have driving licences for when ID is required, rare as that is.
Must be 3 years since last asked for driving licence, must be 8 years since was last asked for passport.

 

[Lisa Thomas]

I think they should have been clearer in their letter to you and attached a list of acceptable identity, rather than specifically state it needs to be a passport.

 

[Newchodge]

I think they should also have been rather more honest about why they want it - it is nothing to do with sponsoring people from overseas - it is an absolute legal requirement for every employer. It may ne they are much more likely to be audited (found out) if they are sponsoring overseas people, but it is not the promary reason for the checks.

 

[Chris Ashdown]

Just show them a copy of your Birth Certificate as that's the only thing the passport office require to issue one and if not sufficient ask the company to use it to buy you a new passport to meet their demands
National insurance number is not proof apparently anyone in the country can ask for one and get one so they can work
At a loss why anyone should get upset about this, the company can get fined £10,000 for every person employed who does not have the right to work here

 

[Mr D]

Even the birth certificate isn't always accepted. Wife signed up with a temp agency last year, went in with her birth certificate and was told to get a new one. They did not accept her birth certificate from the 70s though years ago employers did.

Saying that, a birth certificate is not much proof of who you are. I have picked up one for my father in law in the past, could have used it to prove I was him to multiple bodies.
Still, government are not so bothered about the people proving they have the right to work so much as they are bothered about employers holding the right paperwork.

 

[Newchodge]

I thought that the birth certificate had to be accompanied by an NI number.

 

[fisicx]

Then she'd have a passport, wouldn't she!

Unless (like a chap I know from Ghana) it expired and they never bothered to renew it. So when asked to provide the requisite documentation he couldn't and subsequently lost his job.

 

[ffox]

Birth certificate is on the list as acceptable documents - https://www.gov.uk/government/uploa..._to_acceptable_right_to_work_documents_v5.pdf

I've done a number of gigs for local authorities and international companies in the last 20 years and I've been asked for this type of documentary evidence four or five times. I used to use my passport, but I didn't renew it after 2006, since then I've used my birth certificate.

They usually also want to see at least two other documents, one preferably showing an address and another showing a photograph like a driving licence, bus pass or ID card.