The Home Office has published the results of its consultation on the civil penalty scheme to prevent illegal working, available here. Key changes for employers (to be introduced in the Immigration Bill or secondary legislation to be introduced in April 2014) include:
- the maximum civil penalty for an employer in respect of each illegal worker is to be increased from £10,000 to £20,000 (reduced to £15,000 for a first time breach)
- the range of documents acceptable as evidence of the right to work is to be reduced
- the need for annual checks on documents for an employee with time-limited status will be removed and replaced with a check at the point of expiry of the employee’s permission to be in the UK
- the grace period for document checks to be made on employees acquired pursuant to a TUPE transfer is to be extended from 28 days to 60 days.
Key contacts
Steve Bell
Managing Partner - Employment, Industrial Relations and Safety (Australia, Asia), Melbourne
Emma Rohsler
Regional Head of Practice (EMEA) - Employment Pensions and Incentives, Paris
Disclaimer
The articles published on this website, current at the dates of publication set out above, are for reference purposes only. They do not constitute legal advice and should not be relied upon as such. Specific legal advice about your specific circumstances should always be sought separately before taking any action.