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The government has announced that it will be targeting the Construction industry as part of a scheme to crack down on employers recruiting undocumented workers.
‘Operation Magnify’ will involve enforcement officers carrying out operations to target businesses which are exploiting illegal migrant workers. If undocumented workers are discovered following a raid, the Home Office could shut down the site for up to two weeks. The scheme is part of a raft of measures in the Immigration Bill 2015-16 currently passing through Parliament.
The construction sector has been identified as a risk because of skills shortages, reliance on transient labour and forged documents being used to gain access to work. With this increasing need for workers comes a higher risk of failing to spot workers without the requisite documentation.
The cost to employers of getting this wrong can be high. Not only is there the risk of a civil penalty for negligently employing someone not entitled to undertake work but also the criminal offence of knowingly employing such an individual. The civil penalty is most likely to catch out employers because it does not require actual knowledge of illegal working. Presently the maximum civil penalty is £20,000 per individual employed without the right to undertake work. There is also the risk of reputational damage as employers can also be named in a public register. The criminal offence carries with it the risk of both an unlimited fine and/or up to 2 years imprisonment.
So what can employers do to mitigate the risk of falling foul of this legislation?
An employer will be excused from the civil penalty if it can show that it requested, checked and copied potential employees’ documents before employment begins – it will not be enough to carry out the checks on the start date. The list of documents that will satisfy this check can be found on the Home Office website and the type of document will depend on the status of the employee in question. Good record keeping is a must, in cases where an employee has a limited right to remain, it will be necessary to carry out regular checks.
Finally, employers must be satisfied that the relevant document is genuine and that the individual is the person named in them. Employers are not expected to become expert at spotting forgeries, but should carry out basic checks, such as checking photographs and cross checking names and dates of birth across document and expiry dates.