The Home Office wants to
make it harder for an illegal worker to live and work in the UK. The majority of compliant employers will have
to be even more vigilant when implementing procedures that prevent employment
of illegal workers, particularly in those sectors with a high employee turnover
such as retail and hospitality.
In addition to the current
£20,000 per illegal worker civil penalty, it will be a criminal offence to hire
someone who an employer knows or has reasonable cause to believe is an illegal
worker, with an increase in the maximum prison sentence from two to five years
for the employer.
The Immigration Bill
introduces a power to close the business of an employer who continues to employ
illegal workers for up to 48 hours. If
the business can prove that the employer has conducted right to work checks the
closure notice can be cancelled. Where
this cannot be proved the closure may continue and the business will be subject
to a greater degree of ongoing checks around its right to work checks.
When carrying out checks
you should ensure that:
·
the
check must be carried out before an employee starts work, not afterwards;
·
avoid
discrimination claims by ensuring checks are carried out consistently on all
potential new employees;
·
The
Right to Work check is conducted properly, ensure that the documents are dated
and signed when they are checked to avoid £20,000 penalty per worker.
If you currently do no carry out Right to Work checks and would like assistance with this, please call us on 01245 261883