All employers must follow certain procedures at the recruitment stage to check that their potential employees are eligible to work in the
UK . This is because it is a criminal offence, under section 8 of the Asylum and Immigration Act 1996, punishable by a fine, to employ a person who is not entitled to work or do that particular job in the UK .
You can establish a defence to the section 8 offence if you carry out specified document checks at the point of recruitment. Our guidance summarises the procedure and the documents you must ask for to ensure that your employees can work in the UK legally and for you to establish your defence – click here to access the guidance.
Repeal of section 8
Section 8 of the 1996 Act will be repealed by section 26 of the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006 when it comes into force on 29 February 2008. (Employers will still be liable for prosecution under the 1996 Act where they employed illegal migrants before that date and they did not establish the statutory defence at the point of recruitment).
Under the new Act, the defence to the offence of employing an illegal worker is still available if the employer carries out the specified document checks at the point of recruitment. However, the new Act also requires employers to make document checks, at least once a year, for those employees who have limited leave to enter or remain in the UK.
New penalties for breach
The penalty for employing illegal workers has been increased under the new Act. Employers who negligently recruit illegal workers face a fine of up to £10,000 for each offence.
A new offence has also been introduced. Those employers who are found to be knowingly employing illegal migrant workers will face an unlimited fine and/or a prison sentence of up to two years.