---
source: policy_docs
audience: role:admin, role:employer
title: Right to Work and Certification Checks
---

# Before a first shift

No worker starts a first shift without a completed right-to-work check. This is
not a paperwork step that can follow the shift: the obligation is on the
business, the penalty falls on the business, and a shift worked before the check
cannot be undone by completing it afterwards.

The check is a sight of the original document, or a share code verified against
the online service, recorded with the date and the name of whoever checked it.
A photograph sent by message is not a check.

# Documents that expire

Where a document carries an expiry date, the worker's record carries the same
date and they stop being offered shifts seven days before it. Seven days rather
than on the day, because a licence renewed on the morning of a shift is a licence
that was not in place when the rota was published.

# Role-specific certification

| Role | Required before first shift | Renewal |
|---|---|---|
| Security officer | SIA licence, valid and in date | Three years |
| Bar staff serving alcohol | Personal licence where required by venue | Venue-specific |
| Kitchen and food handling | Level 2 Food Safety | Three years |
| Supervisors | First aid at work | Three years |

A worker whose certification lapses is not removed from the pool. They stop
being offered shifts for roles that require it and remain eligible for roles that
do not, which is usually the difference between losing a good worker and losing
three weeks of their availability.

# Recording a check

Checks are recorded against the worker profile, not against the shift. A check
done for one venue is valid across the organisation — asking a worker to prove
the same thing at each site is how a pool of willing people becomes a pool of
people who work somewhere else.