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Check your Employees' Status

Employers are urged to ensure that they are compliant with the new rules governing the employment of illegal workers in the UK.  Effective from 29th February 2008, the new rules are set out in the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006.

By ensuring employees present certain documentation upon commencement of employment an employer will establish a statutory excuse against payment of a civil penalty.  The civil penalty can be up to £10,000 per illegal worker.  If it is proved that an employer knowingly employed an illegal migrant they could be liable to an unlimited fine and/or prison sentence of up to two years.

Applicable to employees that began work on or after 29th February 2008, the new legislation requires that employers carry out checks before employment.  The employer must be presented with a document from the employee that falls under two distinct categories.

List A categorises documents that establish the person has an ongoing entitlement to work in the UK.  List B denotes a restricted entitlement to be in the UK.  Documents from List B must be checked every twelve months to ensure that they are still valid.

By keeping copies of documentation an employer is constructing a record of evidence that they are fully intending to be compliant with the law.  The Home Office doesn’t expect every employee to be capable of spotting the often very believable forgeries.  By being able to show that your company policy is to request proof of eligibility to work in the UK from every employee you can protect yourself from both the civil penalty and also from discrimination claims.

This article has been provided by UK200Group.

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