The Appendix D record-keeping checklist

Right to work

Evidence of a check on everyone you employ or sponsor, carried out before work began, using the correct Home Office service. There are several similar-sounding services; only one of them is the employment one.

Date of entry

Where you sponsored someone’s entry clearance, evidence of when they actually entered the UK — ordinarily a copy of the page carrying the entry stamp, or travel evidence where there is no stamp.

Recruitment

How the role was advertised and how the successful candidate was chosen. Where an advert is required, the guidance is specific about what it must contain and what a screenshot of it must show, down to the website address and the closing date.

Note what you are not required to keep: personal data about unsuccessful candidates. Hoarding every CV is not thoroughness, it is a separate problem.

Salary

Payslips showing the required detail, evidence the money reached the named worker’s account, and a contract containing a defined set of particulars including the parties, the dates, the job, the hours and the pay.

Skill level

A detailed job description covering duties and the skills and qualifications required, the qualifications the person holds, and any professional registration the role needs.

Everything else

National Insurance number, a history of contact details kept up to date, a record of absences, a criminal record check where the role requires one, parental consent for under-18s, certificates where a role needs one, and evidence you gave your workers information about their employment rights.

How long to keep it

The sponsor rule is through the sponsorship and then until the earlier of one year after it ends or the point a compliance officer has examined the records. Other law imposes its own, sometimes longer, periods on the same documents — payroll and minimum wage records being the obvious examples. The safe approach is to keep the longest clock that applies to each item rather than the shortest.