I'm feeding back to our recruitment team concerns over recruitment, and one that I've flagged is the right to work changes that came into affect recently. I've checked the Gov site which states - 

"The EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) was established to enable EU, EEA and Swiss citizens resident in the UK by 31 December 2020, and their family members, to get the immigration status they need to continue to live, work and study in the UK.

For those citizens resident in the UK by 31 December 2020, the deadline for applications was 30 June 2021.

As an employer you are not responsible for making sure your employees have applied to the scheme and you do not need to undertake retrospective right to work checks on individuals who were employed on or before 30 June 2021."

But for clarity, how would one know if someone needs to be registered going forward? if they have a NI and GB passport, is that sufficient? 

Use the government check system:

https://www.gov.uk/check-job-applicant-right-to-work

Be careful about fixating on a single document - for example there is currently an influx of ex-Hong Kong residents who do have the right to work in the UK under resettlement (appreciate not that many choose construction as a career).

The employer is liable if they fail to ascertain a potential employees right to work in the UK.

You have to ask EVERYONE, not just those with non-English sounding names.

How you would even validate a GB & NI passport over the phone is a mystery - when Mrs R worked in personnel for the LA she received two days training from immigration on document scrutiny.

thats not what I've said. We carry out over the phone interviews, and a question I want to ask is if they have applied for right to work if required, we can ask everyone, but when they do come in how do i validate if they need to have applied or not? I wouldnt have to apply online as I've lived here all my life, but someone whos only been here for a few weeks will but may have a NI number. 

And based on what you said, if they say they dont need to, how do I know they dont. Maybe left to someone who carries this out as their role to answer.

You are confusing two regulations - one is the right to work, the other is settled status.

As an employer you do not (as you have highlighted in bold in the OP) have to check if workers have (or have applied for) settled status.

You do however as an employer have to check any applicant has the right to work in this country whether by birth, citizenship, permit or international agreement.

If they are merely applying for the right to work you should not be engaging them until the application has been approved.

When the Right to Work legislation came in to force I was working in a Personnel role. Every existing employee had to provide documentary evidence of their right to work as did all susbequent applicants.

Even now when I talk to a recruitment firm about a position or start a new job I am expected to provide proof of my self declared right to work - usually by passport.

If you were not asked for such evidence by your current employer then it is their systems that have omission.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/998170/6.7578_-_HO_-_PBS_Employers_Right_To_Work_Assets_V3.pdf

For me as a British Citizen born & bred - yes as this is the first item of List A:

A passport (current or expired) showing the holder, or a person named in the passport as the child of the holder, is a British citizen or a citizen of the UK and Colonies having the right of abode in the UK.

Similarly for an Irish Citizen Item 2 List A:

A passport or passport card (current or expired) showing that the holder is a national of the Republic of Ireland.

Item 8 List A:

A birth or adoption certificate issued in the UK, together with an official document giving the person’s permanent National Insurance number and their name issued by a government agency or a previous employer. Commonly read as birth certificate & P45 or last pay slip or HMRC tax coding

All applicants for the settlement scheme can apply for a share code. This is valid for 30 days and can be shared with their employer to give them access to a website that will display a photograph and immigration status of the applicant. The employer is asked to name the company and verification number is included in the displayed information as proof that the employer has accessed the site and is aware of the applicants status.