Brexit and temp worker management: how turning to technology can help

Find out how implementing a tech solution into your Right to Work checks can keep you compliant, efficient and on-budget

As the new Brexit laws come into force, it’s important to have a simple and effective strategy in place to continue sourcing non-UK labour compliantly. In managing a contingent workforce, this will be especially critical as a high turnover of workers means large volumes of rapidly moving data.

Without an adequate system to screen, manage and store Right to Work details, you are opening the door to poor cost control, bad time management and most critically: compliance risks.

Penalties can range in severity from having your details published as a warning against clients to hefty civil fines. Worst case scenario this means a £20,000 fine per illegal worker, making the stakes particularly high to get it right.

Turning to technology can be a quick, easy, and secure method to manage your workers, keeping new regulations in mind. Whilst a poorly managed system can actively sabotage your workflow, a forward-looking tech solution can both enhance your processes, as well as enforce end-to-end compliance.

Transparency on the cloud: storage and accessibility for Right to Work data

With each non-UK worker now requiring a unique set of documents, it’s vital to systematically store these for accessibility and transparency. This will provide the bedrock for ensuring compliance throughout your supply chain and without it, can cause serious blind spots.

With government regulations now requiring workers’ details to be stored, not only for their placement duration but a further two years afterwards too, storage and accessibility are more vital than ever.

In opting for dated on-site servers or even paper-based methods, your workflow will likely crumble under the added pressure of the new requirements.

However, migrating your current process to the cloud may present an easy solution. With the potential for:

• Instant and remote data sharing
• High volume storage
• On-demand access

…this means transparency across your supply chain, allowing end-to-end and real-time compliance monitoring. In addition to this, you can securely store all Right to Work documents, ensuring you’re fully prepared for any government spot checks/audits.

Keeping checks cost-effective and time-efficient: how to best equip your admin team

When selecting a new software/ system to manage Right to Work, it’s important to weigh up the features against your admin staff’s current knowledge and bandwidth to complete risk-free checks. With any legal reform, getting up to speed can be a lengthy process and, in some cases, will require training expenses. As well as this, newly required steps can easily overwhelm smaller admin teams, resulting in poor time efficiency and human error.

With an adequate Right to Work system, however, you can surpass the need to delegate significant portions of your budget or timeline to training- without compromising accuracy or efficiency. With a smart system built to recognise new legislation, gaps in knowledge amongst your admin team become a non-issue, as it can quickly identify relevant details, detect risk before submission and prompt staff to ask the right questions during checks.

With all the necessary knowledge stored within your chosen system, your staff can simply undergo a short period of software user training, usually only requiring around 1 hour or less. Once this is complete, they can carry out simple routine processes when screening workers for enhanced time efficiency and risk avoidance.

IDVT (Identification Document Validation Technology) for effective risk avoidance

As fraudulent documentation becomes more and more sophisticated, it’s important to enforce a tech solution which can easily outsmart it and notify you ASAP: this is where IDVT comes in.

IDVT is a progressive area of digital identity-checking which can automatically verify an identification document's authenticity. Having this in place can set a strong precedent for risk avoidance and its effectiveness in doing so has even been recognised by the Home Office.

With the capacity to validate anything from passports to drivers’ licenses to biometric resident permits, it adds a critical neutral element to your process, preventing any conscious or unconscious bias your admin team may hold during visual checks alone.

With IDVT, all your workers' documents can undergo a highly detailed analysis as its capabilities range from simple tell-tale watermarks to non-visible algorithmic data, giving away a counterfeit origin. With this, you can fast-track your Right to Work checks without compromising on accuracy, and secure high-level compliance in line with latest regulations.

Please Note: Whilst IDVT can be a helpful aid to your current process, the Home Office warns that it MUST NOT be used as a replacement for its official guidance on examining identity documents.

Conquer Brexit with tech

Whilst the new Brexit regulations will require you to adapt your workflow, an effective and smart technology can help make the transition as smooth and non-disruptive as possible. With the threat of reputational damage and fines for getting it wrong, the process can seem daunting, however with the right system in place, you can let the tech take on the heavy lifting. Though risk-avoidance is top priority, keep your business' individual needs in mind when selecting a system too. With this, your chosen system can support you to consistently complete successful Right to Work checks, allowing you to continue hiring non-UK talent with ease AND compliance.

Book a demo and find out how ENGAGE can help you manage Right to Work.