Are your staff legal?

From 29^th February 2008 the penalty for employing illegal workers increases to £10,000 per worker, and where the employer has been adjudged to have knowlingly employed an illegal worker a prison sentence could result.

To avoid fines you should:

• Check all new recruits are in possession of sufficient documentation as is described by the Border & Immigration Authority lists (BIA)
• Keep copies of those documents for at least two years following employment
• Recheck and recopy documents annually for workers with limited leave to remain in the UK

For the current BIA lists of acceptable information on pages 23 – 25 of the guidance booklet obtainable through this link: http://www.bia.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/employersandsponsors/preventingillegalworking/currentguidanceandcodes/summaryguidance0208.pdf?view=Binary

If you have any doubts about the legality of any of your staff you should ensure the checks described are carried out, not only for those employees who you are most concerned about, but for all employees. To single employees out for document checks could give rise to discrimination claims.

Also introduced today is the "points based immigration system" designed to limit immigration to skilled/solvent individuals.