Illegal Workers In The UK Q&A

Q. Have the changes to the Immigration, Asylum and

Nationality Act 2006 ("the Act") resulted in more

employers being prosecuted?

Around one hundred and thirty seven employers have been

prosecuted to date; ten times the number caught last year. The

UK Border Agency has handed out fines of approximately

£500,000!1

Prosecutions are likely to continue to rise. The Government

enhanced its enforcement budget by £100 million,

increased publicity on cracking down on illegal working and

gave the UK Border Agency the power to issue on the spot

fines.

The Government has announced 60 per cent more immigration

removal centres confirming that it had increased operations by

40 per cent. Liam Byrne (Immigration Minister) said "We

are cracking down on illegal working with more enforcement

raids than ever before".2

Q. What are the penalties?

The Act introduces new civil and criminal penalties. Under

the Act it is an offence for an employer to employ a person

aged 16 or over who is subject to immigration control and has

no permission to live and work in the UK, or who works for an

employer in breach of their conditions to stay in the UK. The

maximum fine is £10,000 per illegal worker.

Employers may also commit a criminal offence where they

knowingly employ an illegal immigrant. The maximum penalty can

be an unlimited fine and imprisonment for up to 2 years.

Directors, secretaries and managers can be liable for this

offence where the offence is committed with their consent.

These new arrangements apply to those employees who started

working for the employer on or after 29 February 2008.

Employees who were recruited before this date will be still be

liable for prosecution under the 1996 Asylum and Immigration

Act.

Under the new points based system (PBS) an employer may also

face being prevented from registering as a sponsor or

downgraded or struck off in the future which will limit who the

employer can employ under the PBS.

Q. What can employers do to avoid prosecution under the

Act?

Employers can establish an excuse against a civil penalty

fine by making certain document3 checks. An employee

must provide documents in the correct combinations from List A

or List B ("the Lists") as detailed on the Border

Agency's website.4

Documents from List A will establish an excuse for the

duration of an employee's employment provided that copies

of the originals are taken. Documents from List B indicate that

the employee has limited leave to remain in the UK. Therefore

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