Illegal Workers: An Expensive Oversight

There is a lot of talk about “illegals” in the UK at the moment. You may not be aware that the maximum civil penalty for employing illegal workers as a result of careless recruitment and employment practices is £20,000 per illegal worker. So it is essential that you conduct Right to Work checks on all new employees before they start working for you – even if they claim to be British. Indeed, being selective in your checks can, of itself, amount to race discrimination.

If you do conduct the prescribed Right to Work checks, you’ll have a statutory defence to mitigate payment of the penalty. However, if you fail to conduct the checks, whether the maximum penalty will be applied will depend on if you reported the suspected illegal worker(s) to the Home Office, and your active co-operation with their investigation.

A three-step process
There are three steps you need to go through to carry out a Right to Work check:

1. Ask for acceptable original documents showing a Right to Work in the UK – the “List A” and” List B” documents. Documents provided from “List A” establish that the person has a permanent entitlement to live and work in the UK and the reason is valid for the full time of their employment. “List B” contains the range of documents which may be accepted for checking purposes for an individual who has a temporary right to work in the UK. With “List B” documents, you will only establish a time-limited statutory defence and you will be required to carry out a follow-up Right to Work check.
2. Check the validity of the documents – you must satisfy yourself that the documents are genuine, that the person presenting them is the rightful holder, and that they are allowed to do the type of work you are offering.
3. Take a clear colour copy of the documents in a format which cannot be altered.

Assistance
If you have any concerns or questions on the above, Belvoir HR can provide further information, including a checklist for you to use if you simply wish to ensure you are doing things correctly. Contact us today and we will be pleased to assist.