25-02-2008
Warning to bosses on employing foreign workers
Gloucestershire employers are being warned that as of the end of this month employers face a big hit with new fines and penalties for employing illegal migrant workers.
The new measures coming into force on 29 February 2008 will include a new criminal offence for employers who knowingly employ illegal workers and this will carry a maximum two year prison sentence with an unlimited fine. In addition to this, a new system of civil penalties for employers who negligently employ illegal workers with a maximum fine of £10,000 for each illegal worker will come in to force.
Andrea Bateman, a solicitor at BPE’s employment department, states that the real risk will be of unwittingly hiring someone without permission to work in the UK.
Bateman continues, “Employers will have a defence if they can demonstrate that they have checked and retained copies of certain documents when that person was recruited. The legislation sets out a list of the documents that form acceptable evidence of a person’s legal right to work in the UK such as a UK passport. Employers will also need to satisfy themselves that the person holding the document is the rightful owner of the document by checking photographs for example”.
“Some commentators are advising employers that there is a risk of race discrimination in asking the questions that the legislation requires. I do not think this risk is real and employers should feel safe from such claims providing they ask all employees to produce proof of the right to work in the UK.”
“Gloucestershire relies on a migrant workforce particularly in certain agricultural sectors and catering sectors. Many agencies also rely on a migrant workforce and these are the industries that are most at risk from this new legislation. For example, Gloucestershire has twenty nine agencies that actively use immigrant workers and it is the proprietors of these agencies that are faced with this increased burden in an already heavily regulated sector”.
The new measures coming into force on 29 February 2008 will include a new criminal offence for employers who knowingly employ illegal workers and this will carry a maximum two year prison sentence with an unlimited fine. In addition to this, a new system of civil penalties for employers who negligently employ illegal workers with a maximum fine of £10,000 for each illegal worker will come in to force.
Andrea Bateman, a solicitor at BPE’s employment department, states that the real risk will be of unwittingly hiring someone without permission to work in the UK.
Bateman continues, “Employers will have a defence if they can demonstrate that they have checked and retained copies of certain documents when that person was recruited. The legislation sets out a list of the documents that form acceptable evidence of a person’s legal right to work in the UK such as a UK passport. Employers will also need to satisfy themselves that the person holding the document is the rightful owner of the document by checking photographs for example”.
“Some commentators are advising employers that there is a risk of race discrimination in asking the questions that the legislation requires. I do not think this risk is real and employers should feel safe from such claims providing they ask all employees to produce proof of the right to work in the UK.”
“Gloucestershire relies on a migrant workforce particularly in certain agricultural sectors and catering sectors. Many agencies also rely on a migrant workforce and these are the industries that are most at risk from this new legislation. For example, Gloucestershire has twenty nine agencies that actively use immigrant workers and it is the proprietors of these agencies that are faced with this increased burden in an already heavily regulated sector”.
