Businesses and employers have a responsibility for preventing illegal employment activities, and they can prevent illegal working by carrying out a simple specific document to check if people have the right to work in the UK.

In this post, we will take a look at the 'How to right to work check' and the civil penalty imposed upon illegal employment, which are guided by the immigration law.

This check needs to be repeated when someone has temporary permission to be in the UK and to work. Conducting these checks in the prescribed manner will provide a statutory excuse against civil penalty. 

 

Civil Penalty and prosecution

The UK crackdown on illegal employment has become much stronger than the past and is working in partnership with the pan-governmental sector, particularly the HMRC, which is more effective than before. If you are caught hiring foreign workers who do not have the right to work in the UK without following the right to work check guided by immigration law, you may be subject to the following civil penalty or prosecution:

• Each illegal immigrant will be fined up to £20,000;

• A maximum of five years in prison and an unlimited fine if the degree of illegal activities is severe;

• Close of the business order and Compliance order from the court;

• Suspension of Disqualification as a Director;

• Disqualified from hiring foreign workers;

• Forfeiture of income in return for workers' labour;

• License deprivation in related industries, such as liquor sales license and motor vehicle paid lease permit

How to check applicants' right to work

Businesses and employers should ensure that applicants are legally able to work before hiring them. If the applicant is eligible for employment but has time-limited permission to be in the UK, it needs to have follow up check. The checks can be broken down into 3 key steps:

 

1)  obtain the person’s original documents;

2)  Check them in the presence of the holder; and

3)  Make and retain clear copy of the documents, and make a record of the date of the check.

If the person is a student subject to a condition limiting the number of hours they can work per week during term time, obtain and retain details of their term and vacation date. The manual inspection method is divided into three steps.

Check the validity of documents

Once you have received a document from the applicant, you should check the validity of the document either with the applicant or through a video call. The check can be carried out by employers and should not be carried out by a third party. Even if it is left to a third party, such as a company that has professional equipment to determine whether documents are forged, the employer will be fully responsible. Later, if the submitted documents are found to be counterfeit documents even after the above two steps, or if anyone can easily tell that they are counterfeit without special equipment, they will only be fined.

If you are prosecuted in a crackdown, you will not be exempt from the following cases:

 

• Right to work check is carried out by a third party, not by an employee;

• Where it is easily confirmed that the submitted document does not belong to the applicant even if it is not a counterfeit document;

• If an applicant is hired even though he/she is aware that he/she is not allowed to work for the relevant job;

• If the submitted document is forged or hired even though it is not the applicant's.

Documents should be updated as copies of all documents shall be retained during the applicant's working and for two years after resignation, and may be submitted upon request from the Home Office.

Conducting an online right to work check

As of January 18, 2019, applicants' 'right to work check' can be conducted online. If an illegal activity is detected after conducting an online check, you can be exempted from a civil penalty. Online checks are much simpler than manual methods, but can only be carried out if the applicant's information is kept in the Home Office and with the applicant's consent.



Online checks for migrant workers who holds BRP cards or biometric resistance card or status issue under the EU Settlement Scheme, and if not verified, the check should be done by manual method.

 

Brexit and Covid-19 has made it difficult for employers to hire workers as many Europeans and temporary workers went back to their home countries. In addition, as EU nationals need a visa to work since January 2021, the employers need to check whether the candidates can have right to work in their working premise. If an employer has to sponsor their staff to stay employed, it should be prepared in advance.