Employing illegal foreign worker in the UK is an offence. If an employer is found to be guilty of employing someone they knew or they had enough reasons to believe, had no right to work in the UK, the employer in such cases can face consequences. They can be sent to jail for 5 years and pay unlimited fine. So, what could be enough reasons to believe that a worker did not have the right to work in the UK? Well, if one of the followings was in knowledge of the employer, they should have acted upon it.
- Worker/s did not have leave or permission to enter or remain in the UK.
- their leave had already expired.
- they were not eligible to do certain types of work.
- the papers they produced were incorrect or false.
UKVI does regular right to work checks to make sure that employers are complying fully with immigration rules and all personnel employed by them have the necessary permission to work in the UK. If an organization is found guilty of breaching their immigration duties, for example, they employed someone who did not have the right to work in the UK because they did not conduct correct or proper check of such employees about their eligibility or documents, they may be issued a civil penalty notice for illegal employment, comprising a fine of up to £20,000 for each illegal employee employed.
In such situations, you might be sent a ‘referral notice’ to inform you that your case is being considered and you may be imposed a civil penalty (fine) of up to £20,000 which you have to pay for each illegal worker.
And if you are found liable you will be sent a ‘civil penalty notice’ to which you need to respond within 28 days. In the notice, you will be informed about how to pay, what to do next, and how to object to the decision. Also Immigration The enforcement agency may publish your business’s details to warn other businesses not to employ illegal workers.
Appealing against a Civil Penalty Notice
If you can show that you made correct ‘right to work’ checks for each employee you hired then you don’t need to pay any civil penalty.
Once you have received a Civil Penalty notice for employing illegal workers, you are entitled to go for an appeal. An appeal can be about reducing the original penalty or to remove the penalty completely. An appeal can be made to a court on below grounds:
- You are not liable to the imposition of a penalty and have a statutory excuse;
- You are excused payment by virtue of section 15(3), or
- The amount of the penalty imposed upon you is too high
Now, the court may allow your appeal and cancel the penalty completely or they can just reduce the penalty amount or simply dismiss your appeal.
Now, the appeal the process is complex and you must appeal within the prescribed time of 28 days with submission of relevant documents failing to which can simply turn the decision against you. So, it is important at this stage that you seek specialized legal advice because Home Office even have the right to issue an increased civil penalty in response to receiving an objection from you.
If you have received a civil penalty notice
Visa and Migration Ltd will be able to assist you. Call is today on 02034111261...
