Employers must consider the recent important changes the Home Office has made to it guidance on right to work checks.
To be compliant employers must now review their right to work procedures. The Home Office can issue large fines where an employer is found to be employing people illegally. If you are found to have knowingly employed someone illegally, you face an unlimited fine and up to 5 years in prison. The employers only statutory defence is to prove they carried the correct right to work checks and have recorded evidence of the documents the employee supplied.
The Home Office Employers guidance on right to work checks will make some key changes. Right to work checks will apply to employees, contractors, and agency workers.
The guidance is amended as follows...
Previously the right to work guidance said that employers ‘may wish to check’ right to work documents for contractors and agency workers. The updated guide says you are ‘strongly encouraged to check that your contractors and labour providers and conduct right to work checks’. This will apply now to persons you employ, engage or supply. Where anyone in this chain uses a substitute, that person must also have right to work checks conducted.
Sponsor licence holders must be aware of Part 3 of the Workers and Temporary Workers: guidance for sponsors. The guidance imposes added steps to follow. It requires “where the worker is not your direct employee such as a contractor you do not have to set up a statutory excuse. However, you must carry out checks and keep evidence of those checks
The guidance also encourages employer without a sponsor licence to conduct checks on contractors. However, if not done the employer will not face a civil penalty as would a business employing a person as an employee.
Those who have a sponsor licence and do not follow their responsibilities will face having their licence downgraded or revoked.
To be compliant with the recent Home Office guidance, employers are recommended to now check and renew their right to work procedures and policies. Failure to do so can result in your company suffering reputational damage and disruption to your services. It could affect your insurance policies and any accreditations you have worked hard to achieve.
If you need any further advice or help with conducting right to work checks, please do not hesitate to contact the Quest HR Advice Line on 01455 852 028.
