Mandeep Khroud
Partner
Prevention Of Illegal Working
It’s a criminal offence to knowingly employ someone who has no right to work or live in the UK. As a business owner, you must check and keep evidence of each employee’s legal right to work.
Working with you to stay compliant
Our immigration solicitors can help make sure your organisation is compliant.
Under laws introduced in 2006, an employer can be liable for a fine of up to £20,000 per illegal worker they employ in their business. These fines can apply even if the employer didn’t know that the employment was illegal. The only defence to a fine is if you can show the Home Office that you have been keeping the right records on your employees.
The consequences are serious for any business but can be particularly disruptive if you have a sponsor licence. If you break these rules, you could lose your license and your right to sponsor migrant workers to work for you.
We can audit your business to check if you’re compliant and advise on next steps if you’re not. We can also work closely with you to put policies and procedures in place to help you stay compliant and manage risk in the future. If you already face investigation or prosecution, we can advise and represent you throughout to minimise the impact on your organisation.
Speak to a Legal Partner
Our team support you to navigate complexity, seize opportunity and move forward with legal clarity.
Contact our Specialists
Get strategic advice from a team that knows how to protect and grow your business. Please complete our enquiry form and one of our experts will contact you by the next working day.
Alternatively, you can call us now.
Our opening hours are Monday to Friday 8am to 6pm (Excluding Public Holidays).
0370 1500 100
Testimonials and feedback
We truly value the feedback we receive from both our clients and legal accreditation societies, such as The Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners.
Chambers & Partners, 2024Clients say "The firm provides excellent service and good value for money" and they are "accurate, very detailed and able to work efficiently in restricted timeframes."- Legal 500, 2024"Incredibly responsive and able to present technical issues in an understandable format"
- Legal 500, 2024"The team is really amazing. They have a quick turnaround time and always act professionally."
Frequently Asked Questions
Employers can be liable for fines if you don’t carry out the proper checks before employing a migrant worker. You should:
- Check the applicant’s original documents – Confirm the documents are genuine and valid with the applicant, making sure date of birth, photos and personal information is the same across all documents
- Check the applicant’s right to work online, if they’ve given you their share code.
You must check that the dates for the applicant’s right to work in the UK haven’t expired. You must also make a copy of the original documents and keep them on record as evidence. If your employee can’t show you their documents, you must ask the Home Office to check their immigration employment status. The Home Office will then send you a ‘Positive Verification Notice’ to confirm the applicant’s right to work. You must keep this document on their record to show you have legally employed them. The easiest way to make sure all this happens is to have the right policies and procedures in place. We know that recruitment is different for every business and every sector. We’ll get to know your organisation and create a plan that suits your specific commercial situation.
.jpg%3Fh%3D900%26iar%3D0%26w%3D1072&w=3840&q=75){kind=logo}