Right to Work image comparison challenges

This is from a set of blogs which I am writing for TEAM which I thought may be worth sharing to a wider audience. The first looks at Right to Work image comparison challenges faced.

We are all individual and see the world with very different viewpoints. Ask different people the same question about an image that they have seen and you are quite likely to get different answers (Almost certainly when you get into details).
One of my hobbies is photography and I thought I’d use one of my pictures to illustrate how our perceptions can differ. Let’s take the photos of the moon above and ask, which photo is the one nearest to reality?

Which one would you choose? Do you care?

First of all, if your job or your companies reputation depended on it then perhaps it would matter…….

Secondly, the answer;

They are all the same photo but one has remained unadulterated and the other two have had varying degrees of contrast/focus elements applied. If you’d really like to know which one is as I took it, please send me a message using our contact form.

What planet are you on I hear you saying? (pun intended) How does this relate to Right to Work?

Please read on.……
Every time you engage/employ someone you run a challenge of not correctly identifying the potential employee and accuracy really does matter.

Facial recognition and the importance of the Right to Work image

Make an error here and suddenly you may be on the wrong side of a £20,000 fine. Whenever I speak about Right to Work checks, as per the Home Office guidance, I rightly focus on fake documents in the main. Based upon research in the field by government officials, “imposters” are beginning to make up a significant proportion of the fines issued for illegal working.  Consequently whilst delivering training around the on-boarding process for Right to Work I specifically drill down into identification techniques.

With reference to the pictures above, they are both of me (about 5 years apart). The left-hand image where I’m not smiling is what is held on the passport chip. (At uComply we use technology to access the RFID chip. As a result the users can see this electronic image, effectively you can compare the invisible versus the visible). The second image is from our company’s website.
The more observant among you may have noticed that the eye colour is different between the images. Should this be a failure? Especially relevant in this case my eyes do change colour based upon the ambient lighting conditions. Issues like this present ideal opportunities to engage with potential candidates/employees and get to know them better. Surprisingly eye colour differences would not necessarily concern me provided a few appropriate questions are answered. Ensure your Right to Work image comparison covers this element and stores any decisions made.
I cover this, and more during a training session, including the essentials of facial recognition. The Right to Work image check is a vital part of the process.

Right to Work and how to ensure you are protected

Simply put, there is a defence against not spotting the ‘obvious fake’ as you are not expected to be document experts, hence a mistake could happen. I defy anyone (who is not visually impaired in some way) to try and defend against an ‘imposter’. (i.e. where the individual employed does not look like the identity documents they provided.) This is a key requirement in the Right to Work process, consequently you open yourselves to a fine of £20,000.

This blog is the first of a series where I look at the whole Right to Work process. As a result by the end of the series you will reduce the risk of receiving a fine. If you’d like to know more sooner, then get in touch.

Finally being that time of year, I’d like to wish you all a prosperous New Year.

Find out more with Right to Work training.