If the answer is no, read on………
All employers in the UK have a responsibility to prevent illegal working. You do this by conducting simple right to work checks before you employ someone, to make sure the individual is not disqualified from carrying out the work in question by reason of their immigration status.
Why do we need to prevent illegal working?
The ability to work illegally is a driver of illegal migration. It leaves people vulnerable to exploitation and results in unscrupulous employers undercutting compliant businesses. It can also negatively impact on the wages of lawful workers and is linked to other labour market abuse such as tax evasion, breach of the national minimum wage and exploitative working conditions, including modern slavery in the most serious cases.
Legislation
Under the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006, an employer may be liable for a civil penalty if they employ someone who does not have the right to undertake the work in question if that person commenced employment on or after 29 February 2008.
So what?
As the employer, you (and not the members of your staff carrying out the checks, whether they are your employees or workers engaged by your business) are liable for the civil penalty.
Even if you are not the direct employer of the workers involved in your business, there are compelling reasons why you should seek to know that your workers have a right to work. If illegal workers are removed from your business, it may disrupt your operations and result in reputational damage. There could be adverse impacts on your health and safety and safeguarding obligations, as well as the potential invalidation of your insurance if the identity, qualifications, and skill levels of your workers are not as claimed. Accordingly, you may wish to check that your contractors conduct the correct right to work checks on people they employ.
Three ways to carry out a check
- a manual right to work check (all)
- a right to work check using IDVT via the services of an IDSP (British and Irish citizens only)
- a Home Office online right to work check (non-British and non-Irish citizens)
You can also use the Employer Checking Service where an individual has an outstanding application, administrative review or appeal and their digital profile is not yet enabled to evidence this, or if their immigration status requires verification by the Home Office, for example in the case of Crown Dependencies.
I recommend you use the following links via gov.uk:
- employers’ ‘Right to Work Checklist’ to ensure you have correctly carried out all the steps you need to; or
- online interactive tool ‘Check if someone can work in the UK’, which will take you through the process by asking you a series of questions.
Both will help you to confirm that you have undertaken each step correctly to establish your statutory excuse.
If you require any assistance or further advice in carrying out Right to work checks for your teams (even if they have worked for you for years, but you have never carried these out!) please get in touch.