Home Office Crackdown On Illegal Working

• Published date: 04 April 2024
• Subject Matter: Employment and HR, Immigration, Employee Rights/ Labour Relations, General Immigration
• Law Firm: Ellisons Legal
• Author: Sohan Sidhu

The Home Office is ever-vigilant in pursuing what it calls rogue employers, namely those employers who are not complying with immigration laws when employing migrants in the UK. The Home Office has a lot of power against those they deem to be rogue employers and these include issuing civil penalties for employing workers who do not have permission to work in the UK. Last year, the Home Office announced its intention of increasing fines for employers and the rule changes were introduced on 13 February 2024. The fines for employers have increased from '15,000.00 up to '45,000.00 and fines for repeat breaches have increased from the previous level of '20,000.00 to the new level of '60,000.00. It is ever more important for employers to ensure that they conduct appropriate Right to Work Checks before employment commences and such checks must be made against all employees and must not just be limited to migrant employees. If this happens, there can be issues of discrimination. Employers need to be aware that if they are employing international students, then there is enhanced due diligence which must be undertaken. If the business is in possession of a Home Office Sponsor Licence which gives it the ability to sponsor foreign workers and a civil penalty is issued, then this can also lead to the Sponsor Licence being suspended or revoked.

In the event that that a business receives a civil penalty from the Home Office, and it actively co-operates with...