Do Your Checks, Don't Get Fined

If you've been paying attention to the news, you’ll know that the Government’s getting tough on illegal working.

At the start of 2025, enforcement teams raided 828 premises, making 609 arrests; a 73% increase on the same period in the year before.

They’re showing no signs of stopping either – they’ve clearly identified it as a priority, so we’re likely to see a lot more headlines in the coming days and weeks.

If you’re employing anyone, that means sitting up, taking notice and getting your ducks in a row.

So what should you do first?

The first takeaway is: Do not deliberately hire illegal workers.  Doing so can result in unlimited fines and a prison sentence of up to five years.

But your responsibility as an employer goes beyond just the deliberate – you can also end up in hot water if it turns out that someone you employ doesn’t have the right to work and you haven’t done the correct ‘right to work’ checks.

The result there is still pretty scary – a civil penalty of up to £60,000 for each worker you didn’t check properly.

How do you check?  The good news is that it’s pretty straightforward:

• Check original documents; or
• Check their right to work online - https://www.gov.uk/view-right-to-work/. They’ll need to give you a share code

 If you can’t do either of those things, you’ll have to ask the Home Office to check their immigration status.  You can do that here - https://www.gov.uk/employee-immigration-employment-status

Remember, this applies to ALL workers, regardless of race or name.  Not only will checking everyone ensure you don’t have any that slip through the net, but you’ll also guard against any potential discrimination claim.