Imprisonment and increased fines for those who hire illegal workers!

Date: 17-06-2008

From 29 February 2008, employers who negligently hire illegal workers can now face a fine of up to £10,000 for each offence and those who knowingly hire illegal workers; face an unlimited fine and a prison sentence.

Employers now need to make more stringent checks to qualify for a defence to an allegation that they have hired an illegal worker.

Action

Before employing any individual, you should make sure that they are eligible to work in the UK by checking appropriate documents and keeping copies;

This should be done for everybody and it is recommended that this becomes part of your pre-employment checks if this is not the case already;

N.B The provision of a National Insurance number in isolation is never sufficient for establishing a defence.

The defence to negligently employing an illegal worker

An employer will have a defence if it obtains certain documents from prospective employees before employing them to check that they are eligible to work in the UK.

What happens if after you have employed someone, you have suspicions about their entitlement to work in the UK?

Solution

Contact GSL Employment Screening & Validation Services who can assist you with all your screening requirements