Fines for illegal working are set to rise

Fines are set to increase, the Home Secretary has announced.

The civil penalty for employers, which was last increased in 2014, will be raised by 300%. Up to £45,000 per illegal worker for a first breach, and up to £60,000 for repeat breaches.

In the last 5 years circa 5,000 civil penalties have been issued to employers totalling £88.4m. Immigration enforcement activity has increased. They are now at their highest levels since 2019, up 50% on last year. Early indications show mores arrests in 2023 than during the whole of 2022.

Minister for Immigration Robert Jenrick said, “Making it harder for illegal migrants to work and operate in the UK is vital to deterring dangerous, unnecessary small boat crossings. Unscrupulous landlords and employers who allow illegal working and renting enable the business model of the evil people smugglers to continue. There is no excuse for not conducting the appropriate checks and those in breach will now face significantly tougher penalties.”
“…Illegal working and renting are significant pull factors for migrants crossing the Channel, where people smugglers will often use the promise of jobs and housing to lure people into making these journeys. Increasing fines will deter employers and landlords from engaging in these illegal and dangerous practices, further deterring people from attempting to come to the UK illegally.”

“…It also undercuts honest employers, puts vulnerable people at risk of exploitation, cheats legitimate job seekers out of employment and defrauds the public purse as the businesses and workers do not pay taxes.”

Employers and landlords should check the eligibility of anyone they employ or let a property to. when following the guidance there are a number of ways to do this:

• a manual or technology based check of original documentation
• a Home Office online check

The checks should take a couple of minutes.

How we can help

Have you considered using technology in your Right to Work process?

There has never been a more important time to make sure that you’re compliant for Right to work checks. Please do check that you have followed/follow the guidance to ensure you get your Statutory Excuse.

We continue to see examples with questionable documents or imposters since the introduction of share-codes. In summary, our clients using our solution uAuthenticate Mobile or our Digital ID solution uIDentify ensure compliance with the current Home Office guidance including a uniform process across their business.

Would you like to have this protection?

We offer free trials of our solution uAuthenticate.

If technology is not for your we have regular training sessions where we go through the current guidance.

Ensure you get a Statutory Excuse and avoid fines . Give us a call to find out more or fill out our contact form and we will be in touch.