How to avoid massive fines for employing illegal workers

Additionally, those firms that don’t knowingly employ illegal workers but have no excuse for doing so can be liable for a civil penalty of up to £10,000 per illegal worker.

But there is plenty of advice to help firms avoid being caught out by the legislation.

The issue was brought into sharp focus in Dunstable recently when a bakery was raided by the UK Border Agency, Bedfordshire Police and the Gangmasters Licensing Authority.

Six illegal workers were arrested at Honeytop Speciality Foods on Woodside Industrial Estate on June 21.

Officers checked the immigration status of the workers and six were found to have no right to be in the UK.

Three of the workers – a Pakistani man, 47, an Indian woman, 30, and a Ghanaian man, 24, – had overstayed their visas. The others - two Indian men aged 36 and 25 and a 22-year-old Iranian man – had entered the UK illegally.

Immigration minister Damian Green said: “The message is clear – the UK is no longer an easy touch.”

Businesses caught out in this way face a fine of up to £10,000 per illegal worker unless it can prove that the correct pre-employment checks were carried out.

According to the UK Border Agency’s website, since January 1997, employers have had a duty to check all new employees are entitled to work in the United Kingdom. This check gives them a defence against conviction or an excuse against payment of a civil penalty if they are later found to have employed an illegal migrant worker.

The law on preventing illegal migrant working has occasionally been revised since then.

There are different checks to make dependant on when workers were first employed.

Staff employed from February 28, 2008, must have their entitlement to work in the UK checked by their employers. If employers can prove they did this, it is known as a “excuse against payment of a civil penalty”.

However, sometimes immigrant workers are only allowed to be in this country for a set amount of time. Employers need to carry out repeat checks at least once every 12 months.

The documents that should be checked for staff employed are described in guidance booklets published by the UK Border Agency and on the Business Link website.

Employers must also beware of the need to avoid racial discrimination.

The UKBA website suggests when carrying out checks on employees, employers must be careful not to use discriminatory recruitment practices.

In addition, employers should ask all European Economic Area nationals to confirm their nationality by producing a specified document.

Additionally, nationals of Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia may need to be registered or authorised to work. Details of worker registration and authorisation for these nationals, including exemptions, can be found in the guidance booklets and on the Business Link website.

l Employers can phone the UKBA helpline on 0300 123 4699.

l Anyone who suspects that illegal workers are being employed can contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 anonymously or visit the crimestoppers website.

l Visit the UKBA website http://bit.ly/4874DV

l Visit Business Link website: www.businesslink.gov.uk/east