Important:
Fleets need at least one Trustd-verified driver on their account. Right to Work verification is now part of becoming Trustd-verified, so completing the steps in this guide will help ensure your fleet continues to meet Trustd verification requirements and Right to Work obligations.
You can check this in Users/Drivers, where verified drivers show a blue driver icon next to their name. As Right to Work verification may need to be renewed periodically, we recommend that fleets with multiple drivers keep more than one driver verified on their account.
Why we are introducing this change
The law around Right to Work (RTW) checks in the UK is changing. Employers and businesses who work with drivers who do not have a valid Right to Work in the UK can face serious financial penalties, regardless of whether the business was aware of the issue. For full details, see the Home Office’s Employer’s guide to right to work checks.
To help protect fleets and their drivers from this risk, we are introducing a RTW verification step into the driver compliance process on the platform. This change is driven by upcoming legal requirements. We've built RTW verification into Exchange to make it as straightforward as possible for you to stay compliant and protect your business from penalties. Note that British/Irish citizens and persons in the EU Settlement scheme will automatically have Right to Work with no expiry.
Are you an Owner Driver?
This guide is for fleet owners and managers verifying their drivers’ Right to Work on Exchange. If you’re an owner-driver, you confirm your own Right to Work through your Trustd profile, and our compliance team verifies it for you. There’s nothing to action on Exchange.
To find out what you need to provide, see Trustd requirements for Owner Drivers.
What is a Right to Work share code?
A Right to Work share code is a code generated by a driver through the UK government's online service. It allows an employer to verify a driver's RTW status through the GOV.UK website. Share codes are time-limited and expire after use or after a set period, so this process will need to be repeated when the RTW share code expires, or if the fleet owner is unable to make the change within its 90 day expiration.
Please note: if a driver is part of the EU Settlement Scheme, their Right to Work doesn't expire. In this case, the fleet owner must select the "Permanent right to work (no expiry)" option in the Verify RTW pop-up, rather than entering an expiry date.
What has changed in the driver compliance process?
The overall driver compliance process works the same way as before, with one new step added. Drivers are now required to supply their RTW share code through their Trustd profile, and fleet managers are required to verify that share code at GOV.UK to record the outcome in the platform.
Here is how the updated process works from start to finish:
Step by step guide
These steps apply the same way whether the driver is brand new to Trustd or already has an existing profile there's no separate process for existing drivers.
1 - Start the Trustd drivers process
Begin the Trustd drivers process as normal. The driver will receive an invitation to create and complete their Trustd profile, which now includes a RTW step where they supply their RTW share code.
2 - Retrieve the driver's share code
Once the driver has completed their Trustd profile, go to Users/Drivers in the platform and select the relevant driver. From here, open the "Verify RTW" pop-up, where the driver's RTW share code is retrieved.
3 - Verify the share code with Home Office
Take the share code and go to the Home Office's Right to Work checking service, outside of the platform. Enter the share code there to verify the driver's Right to Work status. The service will confirm whether the driver is legally allowed to work in the UK.
You can access the Right to Work checking service here: https://www.gov.uk/view-right-to-work
4 - Record the verification in the platform
Return to the platform, in the "Verify RTW" pop-up on the driver's record. Enter the driver's RTW expiry date, or confirm permanent RTW (no expiry), then confirm. This saves the verification against that driver's profile and creates a record that the RTW check has been completed.
Please note: if the driver's RTW is confirmed as permanent under the EU Settlement Scheme, tick the "doesn't expire" option on the pop-up rather than entering an expiry date. When a share code expires, the driver will need to generate a new one through the government service and supply it via their Trustd profile. The verification process then repeats from Step 2.
Operating the RTW process within the Exchange: a full walkthrough
The driver's side: supplying a share code
Once your driver is enrolled in Trustd, they complete their profile as normal. The new RTW step asks them to enter their Right to Work share code. British and Irish drivers do not go through this step, their Right to Work is automatic, and everything from here applies to drivers who are not British or Irish nationals.
What you will see: the Verify RTW status
Inside the Verify RTW pop-up
Opening the pop-up gives you the driver's share code, ready to take to GOV.UK. When you return with the result, you have two options:
- If the driver's Right to Work is time-limited, enter the expiry date shown by the Home Office check.
- If the driver has permanent Right to Work (for example, under the EU Settlement Scheme), tick "Permanent right to work (no expiry)" instead of entering a date.
The Next button enables once either a valid date or the checkbox is set. Cancel carries a tooltip. Entering a date and then clearing it reverts the checkbox label back to its default state.
After you submit
Once you have confirmed the verification, the driver moves to Review/Attest status. The expiry date or permanent status you have recorded is also reflected in Trustd, so both systems stay in sync.
Where to find the RTW record afterwards
Once verified, RTW appears as a read-only entry in the Documents tab of the driver's Trustd Driver Card, alongside their other compliance documents. You will see one of the following:
- Verified (time-limited) — with expiry date
- Verified (permanent)
- Verified (British/Irish — no share code required)
- Expired
If a driver has not yet been verified, they will not appear on this tab. Go to Users/Drivers to action any outstanding verifications.
For Owner Drivers: Your RTW is verified directly in Trustd by TEG’s compliance team, not by a fleet owner through Exchange. The result appears as a read-only entry in your Business Documents tab once that verification has been completed. See Trustd requirements for Owner Drivers for what you need to provide.
Allocating loads: what RTW status means in practice
A driver cannot be allocated or reallocated a load until their attestation is complete. Exchange also checks RTW expiry independently, which can affect load allocation in a few ways:
- If a driver is already allocated to a load and their RTW then expires, you will see the message: "This driver is no longer available. Please select another driver", with their name highlighted in red.
- Using the New Load Form to allocate: an expired driver appears greyed out in the list.
- Using the (re)allocation form: an expired driver doesn't appear in the list at all.
Expiry reminders and renewals
Two banners to keep the fleet owner informed:
RTW expiry banner: orange when a driver's RTW is within 14 days of expiry, red once it has expired. Fleet owners see a "Go to drivers list" CTA; owner-drivers see a "Go to Trustd" CTA. Either can be dismissed.
Attestation-readiness banner: separate banner telling the fleet owner which drivers are ready for attestation, with its own "Go to drivers list" CTA.
On the driver card itself, the View button greys out when the driver is non-compliant on RTW, or on any other document in Trustd. It isn't RTW-specific; RTW expiry (or never having verified RTW) is just one of the possible causes.
Renewal: once the driver submits a new share code via Trustd, no Verify RTW CTA reappears until Exchange has picked up the new code. Once it has, the driver's status resets to "Verify RTW" and the fleet owner repeats Stage 2 onward.
Why this matters for your business
Working with a driver who does not have a valid Right to Work can result in significant financial penalties — even if you were unaware of the situation. Completing and recording RTW checks for every driver gives you a clear audit trail and shows that you have taken the steps required by law.
If you have questions about your specific RTW obligations, we recommend speaking with your legal or HR adviser, or visiting GOV.UK for the latest guidance.
Need help?
If you have any questions about the Trustd drivers process or RTW verification, please raise a support ticket and our team will be happy to help.