Immigration status 



Employers have a legal duty to carry out immigration checks to ensure that all their workers have the right to work in the UK. An inability to produce proof of the right to work within a reasonable time of being asked is likely to be a “fair reason” for dismissal (Nayak v Royal Mail Group Limited [2016] UKEATS/0011/15/SM).


If a migrant worker cannot produce their original documents because they have an outstanding immigration appeal or other application, employers should use the online Home Office Employer Checking Service to meet their statutory checking obligations (see Chapter 3: Immigration checks).