Under the provisions of section 8 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1996, it is a criminal offence to employ someone who is 16 or over and not entitled to work in the UK. Employers have a statutory defence against prosecution if, before the start of employment, they satisfy the evidence requirements of the Immigration (Restrictions on Employment) Order 2004 by checking and recording certain specified documents that confirm the prospective employee's right to work in the UK. Full details of the acceptable documents are provided by the Home Office at the link given below.

Prosecutions for offences under section 8 are dealt with in magistrates' courts, or in the sheriff court in Scotland. Until now, the maximum penalty is a fine of up to £5,000 for each person employed illegally.

The Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006, which gained Royal Assent on 30 March 2006, makes important changes to this penalty regime.

A new civil penalty regime is to be introduced that will impose a fine of up to £2,000 where an employer has employed an immigrant who is not permitted to work in the UK and the employer cannot demonstrate that the evidence requirements have been met. There will be supporting provisions for objecting to and appealing against a penalty notice. The Home Secretary is required to produce a Code of Practice that will define the factors that will be used to determine the size of the penalty.

However, the existing criminal penalties will be strengthened where an employer knowingly employs an immigrant who is not permitted to work in the UK. The penalty will be a term of imprisonment of up to 2 years and/or an unlimited fine. The Act contains a new way of identifying the person who would be liable for prosecution. It will not be a defense for an employer to claim that the decision to engage the immigrant was made without the employer's knowledge - if a person responsible for any aspect of the employment knew that it was illegal, the employer is treated as knowing that fact.

The penalty provisions of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1996 are repealed by the new Act. The new provisions will come into force on a date yet to be announced. There are no changes to the evidence requirements of the Immigration (Restrictions on Employment) Order 2004.

...back to 20 April 2006

Source:
Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006
Comprehensive guidance for United Kingdom employers on changes to the law on preventing illegal working

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Early figures of workers from EU accession states

The Home Office has announced that early data on the numbers of nationals form the accession countries registering to work in the UK shows that the majority were in the country before EU enlargement on 1 May and that the predicted dramatic increase of new arrivals has not materialised. Reports from embassies in the UK and abroad show job-seekers from the accession states returning home after brief periods of work or unsuccessful attempts to find work. There is also no evidence that accession workers are exploiting the benefits system.

The initial Worker Registration Scheme figures show that:

• just over 24,000 applicants applied to register in May and June
• just over 8,000 applicants to the scheme have arrived in the UK since 1 May; at least 14,400 were here before 1 May.

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...back to 9 July 2004

Source:
www.gnn.gov.uk/environment/detail.asp?ReleaseID=121971