Employers Duties to Prevent Illegal Working

Employers Duties to Prevent Illegal Working

If you are an employer in the United Kingdom you have a duty to ensure your staff can work legally.

We can offer legal advice about preventing illegal working and complying with right-to-work checks, on what documents to obtain and how to retain these documents. This is relevant to all employers regardless of whether or not they have a sponsor licence. All employers have the responsibility to prevent those without lawful immigration status from working in the UK.

The Secretary of State has the ability to serve an employer with a notice requiring the payment of a penalty where they have employed a person without lawful immigration status and working in their organisation. The civil penalty for employers can be up to a maximum of £45,000 per illegal worker for a first breach and up to £60,000 for repeat violations. It is therefore important that employers have a centralised system in place for monitoring employees’ right-to-work check both before employment commences and throughout employment.

Employers issued with a penalty notice, can prepare a statutory excuse but would have to demonstrate that they have carried out the necessary checks. We can offer advice concerning these responses.

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