Not got my original birth certificate, work won’t accept the copy, help?

[BCGoneIDontKnowWhat]

When I was a child (I’d have been 8 or 9) my parents house caught fire while we were away on holiday. Everything destroyed including my original birth certificate.

My parents insurance immediately purchased certified copies from the General Register Office (GRO).

I’ve never had an issue using this certificate ever; I applied for a driving license using it. I registered my DD for school using this certificate (both the council and her school wanted to see my BC and accepted this copy as proof she was entitled to an education).

I’ve held down jobs in the past and they’ve been fine with it.

My parents and siblings have also got certified copies of their certificates for the same reason and never had issues.

Until now.

My current work have been doing right to work checks and asked for my original birth certificate. I explained I had this certified copy and have never had an issue using it, but work will not accept it. They’ve said it needs to be the original certificate issued with a year of my birth.

I’ve explained I no longer have that certificate and that this one was purchased by the insurance company to replace the original and I’ve never had an issue using it, but they insist it has be the original certificate.

No matter which way I explain I cannot get the original certificate as it was destroyed they say there’s nothing they can do and they have to prove my right to work.

If I send off to the GRO for another copy this isn’t good enough they want the original certificate.

Help, what else can I do?

@DGRossetti

And right to work checks should have been completed when you were recruited

Usually it happens on the first day. You're merely asked beforehand that you have the RTW. (I don't know if some agencies require you to provide RTW documentation before putting you forward though).

In the HR department where I work we check RTW beforehand, but it's education so we're pretty hot on pre-employment checks

@Ohmybod

Can you look up the requirements for doing right to work checks (gov.uk maybe?) and see where it says they must insist on the original (including resurrecting any destroyed copies). I’d be asking to see a copy of their procedure and questioning that? It all sounds like someone feels the need to tick a box and can’t move on or around it.

I have done and it simply states "birth certificate". Government guidance is usually very simply stated. Unless it states "this must be the original a copy is not valid for this purpose" then what the OP has is perfectly acceptable. Btw, the govt guidance would never state that in relation to a birth certificate because none of us has the original because that is in the official register!

And if course, certified copies of documents are accepted for all sorts of purposes.

Have you asked them what they suggest you do since what they ask for does not exist? Do they have a departmental time machine?

I suspect that someone has heard the word "copy" and thinks it's a photocopy and hasn't looked at the actual document. As pps have remarked, all birth certificates are a copy of the entry in the register of births (etc...)

I would produce the document you have (stop referring to it as a copy which possibly is where confusion has crept in) and let them guide you if they need anything else. The .gov.uk guidance is quite specific and you can supply the original (ie not copied) document.

Anything they say about the date on it is hogwash (ex HR person with responsibility in RTW documents)

Only ever tell people what they need to know as explanations like this often cause misunderstandings.

In the HR department where I work we check RTW beforehand, but it's education so we're pretty hot on pre-employment checks|

My last role was in education (admittedly an IT capacity) and I was only asked on my first day. (I also had to be DBS cleared even though I wasn't going anywhere near students).

@DrFoxtrot

Take in a little envelope of ash. Absolute fools.

Love this 😂

Tell then the original birth cert is at the GRO, they are welcome to contact them. In the meantime you possess a certified copy that they can see. Send them the contact details of the GRO.

www.gov.uk/general-register-office

I have taken my certificate into HR, they currently still have it. They emailed me saying they needed the version given within a year of my birth. I told them about the fire and how this was purchased from the GRO by the insurance and it's never been a problem.

I've worked for the company since September, they've only recently asked to do the RTW.

They need to look at the 'when registered' date rather than the date it was 'extracted from the register'

Omg that's maddening !

Tell them that the copy you have given them is perfectly acceptable, you don't have anything else to give them, and politely suggest that they go and check again before they start to make themselves look utterly ridiculous.

They are just ridiculous if they don’t accept it what can you do it’s gone ?

You’re working for morons. You should probably
Just quit incase it’s infectious.

I think you need to quote the law at them - hopefully someone can help. They don’t know what they are talking about. All you will ever get is a certified copy of an entry in the register, you can get short or long version but they are all certified copies.

They're being silly.

The GRO issued copy is an original; they have perhaps misunderstood what "original" means.

You also need to show them an official letter or document from a government agency (for example HM Revenue and Customs, Department for Work and Pensions, or the Social Security Agency in Northern Ireland) or previous employer, showing their name and National Insurance number

www.gov.uk/legal-right-work-uk/y/a-british-citizen/no

Easier if you have a passport or ID card tbh.

I work in immigration.

I would just email the Head of HR. It's probably an administrator who has misunderstood.