The UK’s Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick has announced that penalties will more than triple for employers and landlords who employ or rent to people without permission to work or rent. These higher immigration fines are due to start in the beginning of next year.


“There is no excuse for not conducting the appropriate checks and those in breach will now face significantly tougher penalties,” said Robert Jenrick. According to the minister penalties will leap from up to £15,000 to up to £45,000 per illegal worker for an employer’s first breach. Repeated breaches will lead to fines of up to £60,000 per worker – up from a current £20,000.


The penalty for UK landlords renting to an immigrant with no permission to rent will shoot up to £5,000 per lodger and £10,000 per occupier for a first breach (up from £80 per lodger and £1,000 per occupier). Repeat breaches will mean penalties of up to £10,000 per lodger and £20,000 per occupier (up from £500 and £3,000 respectively). 


These measures are part of a set of recent announcements about immigration policy and enforcement. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has pledged more immigration enforcement staff and a 50 per cent increase in raids on illegal working. Immigration enforcement visits including those targeting illegal working are now at their highest levels since 2019.

 

Avoiding simple right to work mistakes


Employers can fall foul of illegal working enforcement with common simple mistakes such as conducting a right to work check after a new employee has started work (including as part of their induction on their first day).


Reacting to the Government announcement, Kate Shoesmith, deputy CEO at the Recruitment and Employment Confederation, warned many instances of non-compliance are accidental. "The majority who fall foul have administrative errors, for example using expired passports, which is currently not allowed,” she explained.


We advise employers to carry out regular reviews of checks, record-keeping and sponsor licence duties. Feel free to contact us for more information.

There are simple steps to avoid civil penalties using the post-pandemic system of digital and physical Right to Work checks in place since last October. There is no suggestion that these will be changing again with the new penalties. The digital and documentary checks landlords are meant to use are not changing either. 

 

How employers can prevent illegal working penalties 


HR teams should be conducting in-person checks with prospective employees if relying on physical documents other than a Biometric Residence Card (BRC), Biometric Residence Permit (BRP) or Frontier Worker Permit (FWP), which can no longer be accepted as physical evidence of right to work since April 2022.


If presented with valid British and Irish passports or Irish passport cards, employers can use one of the UK Government approved Identity Service Providers (IDSP) using Identification Document Validation Technology (IDVT) to check one of the above valid documents.  Though we advise that where an employer is using an IDSP, they retain legible, unalterable copies of Right to Work checks for up to two years after employment ends. They should also carry out their own due diligence to satisfy themselves that the service provider has completed the check correctly, and that the photograph and biographic details on the IDVT identity check are consistent with the new employee turning up for work. 


If a new employee has an eVisa, BRC, BRP, FWP or has EUSS status, employers should conduct an online right to work check using the free Home Office online checking service.


IDSPs provide a service checking prospective employees who are not British or Irish, but unless an employer keeps a record of having done their own check (typing a prospective employee’s share code into the Home Office online checking site) they have no statutory excuse to protect themselves from a penalty if it turns out that their employee has no right to work in the UK at any stage. 


If you want any more details regarding Right to Work checks, sponsoring migrant workers, or for a review of your compliance procedures, please feel free to contact us to discuss.