Crackdown on employers hiring illegal workers

The Telegraph recently reported that one in four workers in the UK is a migrant. With 1.8 million migrants entering the UK since 2004, the responsibility for ensuring staff are legally entitled to work is increasingly being placed on employers. The authorities in the EU and the UK have now warned of a crackdown on employers hiring illegal workers.

The Home Office has recently announced plans to introduce new rules which will become effective early next year. Any employers found breaching the rules will have to bear the full cost of deporting illegal workers found in their employment.

In a bid to target illegal workers, Directors could receive jail sentences and unlimited fines for knowingly hiring illegal workers.

The Illegal Working Action Plan will include a range of measures to make checking an applicant's right to work simpler in addition to tougher enforcement against illegal working.

Raids during October 2007 on restaurants in London's Chinatown indicate that the government authorities are already starting to make their mark in challenging business employing illegal workers.

As a result of the raids, more than 30 people of Chinese and Malaysian nationality were arrested - none of whom had permission to work in the UK. The businesses now face hefty fines for employing illegal workers.

What Steps Should Business Take?

Under the Asylum and Immigration Act 1996, employers must take the following steps to check whether all potential recruits who they would like to start work for them has the right to work in the UK before allowing them to start work:

·      Require the job applicant to produce one or two original documents (from set lists - see below) indicating  

 that he or she has the right to work in the UK.

·      Check that the documents appear to relate to the job applicant.

·      Either retain the documents or keep a copy of them.

Copies of such documents should be kept for the duration of the person's employment and for six months after termination of employment.

The types of document valid for this purpose are listed below:

Documents that are acceptable on their own include:

·      UK passports;

·      European Economic Area (EEA) passports;

·      EEA national identity cards; and

·      UK residence permits.

Where the applicant does not produce a secure document, the employer must see and keep a copy of two documents from list two. The options include:

·      An official document bearing a national insurance number, plus:

·      A birth certificate issued in the UK that specifies the names of the holder's   

    parents; or

·      A letter from the Home Office; or

·      An Immigration Status Document;

·      A work permit, plus a passport that confirms that the applicant has

    permission to enter or remain in the UK and take the work permit employment

    in question

If you want more information on this important aspect of employment law - it affects all employers and all potential recruits - please contact Hannah on 01404 42359 or e-mail hannah@hradvantage.co.uk

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