Important Document Checks for HR Compliance

Checking employee passports and driving licences

You will be aware that since October 2022, you have been required to certify all right to work documents that you receive for employees which includes passports. If you have employees who are required to drive, driving licences should also be thoroughly checked despite not needing to be certified. We have recently received some updated training from the North East Counter Terrorism Policing Team looking at specific details that you should look out for when checking passports and driving licences and thought it would be useful to share some of the quick checks you can complete to ensure that no one is providing fraudulent documents.

It is extremely important that you check any document you are presented with to ensure your compliance with legislation but also to maintain the integrity and ensure the safety of your organisation.

In addition to checking the personal details and pictures, here are a few quick checks you can complete, these security features depend on when the passport was issued:

Passports

• Passports are all made to be the same size. Is the passport you have the correct size and are all the pages aligned with smooth rounded corners?
• Is the stitching in the spine of the passport neat and tidy or has this been tampered with? The stitching should also be in the country’s national colours, for example on a UK passport the stitching will be red, white and blue.
• Is there raised text on the images in the front cover of the passport?
• If you hold the picture page up to a light, you should be able to see a number of circles randomly placed across the page.
• The passport number should be lasered through the entire document at the bottom of the page.
• The font on a passport is only used for passports, does this look legitimate? Cross reference through document.
• Check the laminate around the picture to make sure it has not been tampered with. The pattern on the page should go right up to the edge of the picture.

If you have a UV light, there are additional different elements that you can check:

• Randomly scattered fibres should be visible across each page.
• On the picture page, you should be able to see a pattern/picture which is not visible under normal light.
• Paper should appear dull under a UV light.

If you have a magnifying glass:

• The printed picture of the person before the picture page should be made up of writing including their personal details.
• The lasered passport number should include circular, square and triangular holes.
• On the personal details page, some of the lines should be made up of the name of the country rather than being a solid line.

Driving Licences

• Is there raised writing on the licence?
• There should be a hologram over the picture.
• The wheel/steering wheel should altern between gold and green when you look at the licence at different angles.
• The number at the back bottom right of the licence is printed along the top edge of the licence (you’ll need a magnifying glass for this).
• If the licence has traffic lights on it, under a UV light the red and green lights should show.

Both passports and driving licences are continuously being changed and updated to make them hard to falsify but there are a lot of quick checks you can do to make sure they are legitimate.

If you doubt a document’s authenticity, contact the police or the UK Visas and Immigration Employers’ Helpline on 0300 123 4699.

Checking documents forms an important part of your HR compliance. If you would like to speak with the team about your compliance or would like support with this, please call us on 01325 288 299 (opt 2) or email us at [email protected].