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Employing Illegal Workers
Unless you have been on Mars for the past few weeks you will be aware that the Attorney General recently fell foul of the legislation which she herself steered through requiring employers to carry out rigorous checks into the background of potential employees. Knowingly employing an illegal worker is a criminal offence. Inadvertently doing so will cost a fine of “only” up to £10,000 per offence (Baroness Scotland is reported to have paid £5,000).
For many years, there have been requirements for employers to verify the identity of their workers in order to prevent illegal working. Penalties under the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006 were increased from 29 February 2008. The Home Office UK Border Agency website is regularly updated to show a list of employers fined since the introduction of the revised penalties.
Employers can avoid both a civil penalty and committing a criminal offence by checking, on recruitment, that workers have a right to work in the UK. To obtain this protection, employers must make the checks before the worker starts work.
There are two lists of acceptable documents for checking identity. List A contains items such as a British passport, which have no time limits on working in the UK. List B contains a list of documents which carry restrictions on the amount of time individuals will be able to spend in the UK. Employers now have to carry out annual checks for those workers whose documents appear on List B, such as work permit holders.
Please do get in touch if you would like any advice in this area.
Internet links: Home Office Guidance
