With the continued work of the Government to stamp out illegal workers within the UK, this month (16th May 2014) new schemes have been introduced to help deal with this ever growing issue. The main focus being with the employers to ensure that they are not employing anyone what does not hold the right to work within the UK. With a dramatic increase in the civil fines that will be presented for employing illegal workers. With fines as high as £20,000 per illegal worker for companies that repeatedly offend. The system has been put in place to ensure employees are able to work within the UK. The changes put into place on 16th May 2014 are aimed to strengthen and simplify the process, with changes to the document checks employers are required to undertake. It is the duty of all employers to complete a range of checks and a legal duty to prevent illegal workers from obtaining work within the UK. These checks are in place to make it harder for people who do not hold the right to work within the UK to obtain a job and continue to stay in employment, whilst making it easier for employers to protect there business in the knowledge that all employees are able to complete a role legally. As stated in the recently updated “An employer’s guide to right to work checks” put together by HMRC. (- www.gov.uk) “Illegal working often results in abusive and exploitative behaviour, the mistreatment of illegal migrant workers, tax evasion and illegal housing conditions. It can also undercut legitimate businesses and have a adverse impact on the employment of people who are lawfully in the UK … Employers have a duty to prevent illegal working in the UK by carrying out prescribed document checks on people before employing them to ensure they are lawfully allowed to work.” – An employer’s guide to right to work checks – www.gov.uk Changes introduced to the “An employer’s guide to right to work checks” include “We have reduced the list of acceptable documents for right to work checks – we have removed travel documents, work permits and general Home Office letters from the lists. We have specified that all documents which contain an expiry date must now be current (except those showing that the holder is a British citizen, a citizen of the UK and Colonies having the right of abode, a national of an European Economic Area (EEA) country or Switzerland or their family members with permanent residence). The frequency of follow-up checks for people with time-limited right to work is no longer every 12 months – instead, where a person presents a document which contains an expiry date, the follow-up check is required when their permission to be in the UK and do the work in question expires. When a Certificate of Application or an Application Registration Card is presented as evidence as right to work or the employee has no acceptable documents because they have an outstanding application to the Home Office or appeal against an immigration decision, the follow- up verification check is required six months after the date of the initial check. The acceptable documents for right to work checks set out in List B [there is a link within the text to a schedule of List B items] provide a statutory excuse for a limited period of time. This list has been separated into Group 1 and Group 2 to clearly distinguish the frequency of repeat checks required depending on the document presented. Group 1 contains the documents for which a repeat check is required when the employee’s permission to be in the UK and do the work in question expires. Group 2 contains those documents for which checks are required after six months with the Home Office Employer Checking Service. There is an extension of the statutory excuse for a maximum of 28 days beyond the expiry date of permission to work where the employer is reasonably satisfied that an employee has submitted an application to the Home Office or has an appeal pending against a decision on an application. During this period, an employer must contact our Employer Checking Service to verify that the employee continues to have the right to do the work in question whilst their application or appeal is being determined. If a Positive Verification Notice is received confirming that the employee has permission to do the work in question, the excuse will last for a further six months from the date specified in the notice. If a Negative Verification Notice is received confirming that the employee does not have permission to do the work in question, the statutory excuse will end and the employer should not employ or no longer employ the person. There is an extension of the grace period to 60 days for conducting right to work checks on people acquired as a result of a Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) (TUPE) transfer. This is an increase from 28 days. A record of the date on which a check was made must now be retained and we no longer require the front page of the passport to be copied in order to establish and retain a statutory excuse. International students who have a limited right to work are required to provide an employer with evidence of their academic term and vacation times for the duration of their studies in the UK while they work, in order for an employer to establish and retain a statutory excuse. A partial right to work check is no longer a mitigating factor in the calculation of a civil penalty. An employer was considered to have made a ‘partial check’ when, for example, they checked and copied only one of a specified combination of original documents, or failed to carry out a follow-up check.”– An employer’s guide to right to work checks – www.gov.uk For more information visit www.gov.uk where you can download the compete “An employer’s guide to right to work checks”.