Employing Migrant Workers

It has just been announced that Attorney General Baroness Scotland is to be fined £5,000 after being found to have employed a housekeeper who was not legally allowed to work in the UK.

If you employ migrant workers, take a minute to double-check that you are complying with law. Here are some brief guidelines:

* Make sure that every successful job applicant has the right to work in the UK, preferably before they start. If you don’t, and are found to be employing someone who has no right to work, the penalties kick in.

* The documents that support this right (some documents count, some do not, so take care) must be checked with “due diligence” to try to weed out fakes.

* There is a new points-based system for workers from outside the EU, and in most cases to employ someone from “the rest of the world” you will need to be a sponsoring organisation with a licence.

Nick Barnett

Published on 08/10/2009