Know Your Responsibilities

The UK Border Agency works together with employers to ensure that illegal workers cannot obtain work in the UK. The UK Border Agency will also continue to take tough action against those employers who make use of illegal labour. In 2009/2010 the UK Border Agency conducted over 5500 illegal working enforcement operations.

An employer is acting unlawfully if they employ a person who does not have the 'Right to Work' in the UK and can be fined up to £10,000 per illegal migrant worker.

The law on the prevention of illegal migrant working is set out in sections 15-25 of the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006.

From 29 February 2008, if you have not conducted appropriate checks you may be liable to pay a civil penalty if you employ someone who is:

 subject to immigration control
 aged over 16 and
 not entitled to undertake the work in question because either they have not been granted leave to enter or
 remain in the United Kingdom or because their leave to enter or remain in the UK:

 is invalid
 has ceased to have effect (whether by reason of curtailment, revocation, cancellation, passage of time or
 otherwise), or is subject to a condition preventing them from accepting the employment.

Achieving Your Statutory Excuse

Under the 2006 legislation, employers are required to check the validity of an employee's legitimate 'Right to Work' in the UK.

An employer must check the applicant's documents before the employment starts and must keep a copy of the checked documents for at least two years after their employment finishes. This provides employers with a statutory excuse should they be found to be employing an illegal worker and protects them against a hefty civil penalty for employing illegal migrant workers.

The employer must be satisfied that the documents are valid and that they relate to the applicant. The excuse will not apply if they know that the applicant is not entitled to do the work they are offering.

Whilst the 2006 Act makes employers liable to civil penalties for employing illegal migrant workers, it also allows employers to have an excuse against payment of a civil penalty for doing so. Employers can have the excuse by carrying out specific checks on the original documents of prospective employees. Employers will only have the excuse for employees with time-limited leave to be in the UK if they carry out repeat checks at least once every 12 months.

The UK Border Agency is responsible for securing the United Kingdom borders and controlling migration in the United Kingdom.

All employers have a responsibility to make the appropriate checks when they recruit people and to satisfy themselves that the documents presented to them are valid and relate to the applicant. The comprehensive guidance for employers on preventing illegal working contains detailed information from UK Border Agency about the documentation that an employer needs to verify.

Preventing Illegal Working

Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006

The penalties for employing illegal migrants who aren't entitled to work here in the UK have far reaching repercussions beyond just the initial hefty fine of up to £10,000 per illegal worker, to that of brand and reputational damage in the media and public eye.

Illegal working hurts good business, undercuts legal workers and creates illegal profits. It also puts illegal workers themselves at great risk. By working together with employers we can level the playing field and tackle the exploitation of vulnerable migrants. Unless an employer checks that all prospective employees have the 'Right to Work' in the UK, it risks breaking the law and could receive a substantial fine.

Under the 2006 Act, you are liable to payment of a civil financial penalty if you employ a person aged 16 or over who is subject to immigration control and who has no permission to work in the United Kingdom, or who works for you in breach of their conditions of stay in the United Kingdom.

Penalties For Employing Illegal Migrant Workers

If you employ, or have employed, an illegal migrant worker from 29 February 2008 and do not, or did not, have an excuse you could be liable for a civil penalty of up to £10,000 per illegal worker. If you knowingly employ, or have knowingly employed, an illegal migrant worker from 29 February 2008 you could be prosecuted and receive an unlimited fine and/or a maximum two year prison sentence.

As well as the initial 'Right to Work' check, Vero Right to Work can record the immigration status and the expiry dates of any leave to enter or remain for its migrant employees. The electronic system alerts HR staff when the leave to remain of one of its migrant workers is due to expire, thereby ensuring that employers maintain their statutory excuse.

Reporting immigration offences

If you suspect that a job applicant is in the UK illegally, or has no 'Right to Work' in the UK, you should report them by calling the Home Office UK Border Agency Sponsorship and Employers' Helpline on Tel 0300 123 4699 or by sending an email to UKBA Public Enquiries.

UK Border Agency Guidelines

If you're just photocopying passports and storing them you're not doing enough

The UK Border Agency is continually applying more pressure on employers to conduct more rigorous checks of an individual's identity and their legal 'Right to Work' in the UK. Their expectation is that employers now check these documents to such an extent that it is beyond reasonable doubt that they have not been forged or falsified in any way.

It is a legal requirement for an employer to check that a prospective worker (paid or unpaid) has the 'Right to Work' in the UK. You must obtain a Statutory Excuse before their employment starts. For some workers you must repeat the check every 12 months. To prevent cases of discrimination you must check every prospective worker.

What if you get it wrong?

Thousands of companies are getting caught out in UK Border Agency (UKBA) raids - make sure you are not one of them!

What are the risks?

Don't get caught out and have to pay a £10,000 civil penalty per illegal employee.

Vero is here to help YOU avoid civil penalties from employing illegal workers.