From 1 February 2008 employers face a £10K fine for employing illegal workers. This is a new civil penalty brought in to place by the Government to prevent illegal working following a consultation with UK businesses. Employers who negligently hire illegal workers could face a maximum fine for each illegal worker found at the business. If an employer is found to have knowingly hired illegal workers they could incur an unlimited fine and be sent to Prison.
These measures should make it easier for employers to carry out proper checks and for the Border & Immigration Agency to deal with non compliance. Employers, therefore, need to be even more careful to ensure that they are carrying out the section 8 checks required by the Asylum and Immigration Act 1996. This means checking and keeping a photocopy/copy of the workers identification such as their passport and any work/travel visa if required. In order to avoid discrimination, these checks should be undertaken for all workers who commence employment and not simply those who you think may not have the right to work in the UK.
These new civil penalties form part of the biggest immigration shake up for forty years. The Border & Immigration Agency is also planning to introduce over the next twelve months:-
If you have any issues surrounding employing foreign workers, the Workers Registration Scheme or section 8 checks or would like a copy of the list of identification you should keep for each worker please do contact us. It is simply not cost effective to be in the dark about this.
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