Home Office to Introduce Further Measures to Address Illegal Working

In addition, the Home Office plan to resume data sharing with banks to prevent bank account access by illegal workers, a measure that was dropped in the wake of the Windrush Scandal due to concerns about the accuracy of the data held by the Home Office.

The Prime Minister's announcement included confirmation that that immigration enforcement visits had increased by 10% over recent weeks resulting approximately £1.5 million in civil penalties being issued and hundreds of arrests.

In a further attempt to tackle illegal working, the Home Office has introduced the UK's first cross-government ministerial taskforce on enforcement. The taskforce will be chaired by the Immigration Minister with an objective to identify illegal migrants in the UK and assess how to effectively protect access to bank accounts, education, healthcare and public funds. In return, the Government hopes to reduce the number of illegal migrants and ensure that public services and benefits are only accessible to eligible workers. The taskforce will dedicate its first meeting to discuss illegal working with particular focus on how enforcement activity can be maximised.

What Should Employers Do?

All employers in the UK are under a duty to prevent illegal working. Employing illegal workers, even inadvertently, can lead to civil penalties of up to £20,000 per illegal worker, business closure for repeat offenders and, in extreme cases, criminal proceedings. Given the Government's renewed focus on illegal working it is imperative that all employers review their processes for conducting compliant 'right to work' checks in line with the Government's code of practice and guidance for employers. Checks are to be conducted on all prospective employees before employment starts, repeat checks on employees with limited permission to stay, and accurate records maintained.

If the risk of substantial penalties is not enough to persuade employers to comply with the requirement to conduct 'right to work' checks, those which hold a licence to sponsor overseas workers - or are considering applying for one - have another reason to ensure they have robust processes in place. Sponsors or prospective sponsors may have their licence revoked (or application for a licence refused) if they are issued a civil penalty for employing illegal workers. In addition, if Home Office compliance officers believe that a sponsor's recruitment practices pose a 'threat to immigration control' that may also be a ground for revoking a licence or refusing to grant a licence to a prospective employer.

How Can We Help?

Our immigration team have been advising employers on their duties under the prevention of illegal working legislation since before the civil penalty and sponsorship regimes were introduced. We can:

• help develop policies and processes for incorporating robust 'right to work' checks into your recruitment processes
• provide training on how to conduct compliant checks, and conduct audits to ensure that your business is prepared for any unexpected home office visits
• offer bite-sized online training covering 'Right to Work Checks' (part of our HR & Employment Law for Managers eLearning)

For more information or advice, please contact Tom Brett Young in our Immigration Law team on 07393 148 352, or complete the form below.