Employer wants to keep my passport for a day

p0ndlife

I think OP is asking regarding legal rights. Of course the employer does not have a right to hold your passport, but I don't see that someone applying for the job is going to have the money to challenge the employer in court if they don't progress the applicant and the applicant thinks it's because he had been awkard for them.
Trying to copy bills and bank letters and a debit card however, suggests an identity theft business on the side.

Spikelad

Thank you to all who replied,maybe i should have given some more details in my opening post.I dont think my employer is going to use my passport to commit identity fraud or indeed any sort of crime.

What has happened to other members of staff is that documents they have left for a day have been mislaid,so far these have been things like utility bills and birth certificates,after a couple of days they have been found and returned to to their owners.

I just dont want to take that chance with my passport,however today i spoke to someone in HR about my concerns and she agreed that if i made an appointment with her she would photocopy all the documents while i waited and return them to me in a couple of minutes.

A victory for common sense i think.

Evilm

Spikelad wrote: »

What has happened to other members of staff is that documents they have left for a day have been mislaid,so far these have been things like utility bills and birth certificates,after a couple of days they have been found and returned to to their owners.

If only you'd posted this in the Original Post then that would have been very useful! I would have agreed with you and suggested exactly what you have done.

surreysaver

thegirlintheattic wrote: »

Not a good start if you don't trust the company.

Not a question of trust. Just about reducing risk and taking sensible precautions.

Jinx

I guess it depends how many people are starting at once - where I used to work required Enhanced Disclosures which meant 3 pieces of ID for each newbie and they started in groups of 25.... Quite often we would keep everyones ID and hand it back later in the day - it was photocopied both to prove right to work and also to complete the disclosure form. It was all held securely and nothing was every lost. OP I totally understand where you are coming from but HR teams tend to be supercareful with these documents, I don't think you need worry.

shmeeko69

Spikelad wrote: »

As part of security vetting at work we have been asked to provide evidence of identity.I am happy to comply with this but not happy with the procedure used.

I have been asked to hand in various documents including my passport at the start of my shift,these documents will be retained by our H.R department during the day and we can collect them at the end of our working day.

I am not comfortable with handing over my passport for this length of time,i have no problem allowing my passport to be copied in my presence but i have been told that this is not posssible.

Can i be forced to give my passport up like this by my employer.

This is relatively normal these days and not just with certain employers, but when you visit a foreign hotel for security reasons. I don't agree with this process, but that's the reality of the world we now live in.