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Are You Employing Foreign Workers Legally? - A Guide
With more businesses than ever employing
foreign workers, and the addition of
Bulgaria and Romania to the countries whose
citizens can reside freely in the EU; small
businesses are struggling to understand the
rules and regulations that they need to
follow in their recruitment processes.
 Here
is a guide to what you must do to ensure
that your workers are legally entitled to
work for you. Being found employing illegal
workers will mean large fines and
prosecution.
When employing anyone from
outside the UK, you must make sure they are
permitted to work here before they start
working.
If you follow the correct procedures when
employing staff you will provide your
business with a statutory defence if one of
your employees turns out to be ineligible to
work.
1. Obtaining Documents
You need to ask for original documents from
your prospective employee that proves they
are entitled to work in the UK. These
documents include:
-
A passport showing that the holder is
either a British citizen, has the right
to live in the UK, is a national of a
European Economic Area (EEA) country or
Switzerland, or is otherwise endorsed to
show the holder is allowed to live /
work here (You may still need to get
further endorsement before they start
work).
-
A residence permit issued to a national
of a European Economic Area (EEA)
country or Switzerland.
-
An Application Registration Card from
the Home Office stating the holder is
permitted to take up work.
If you ask for the details during the
recruitment process; you should ask all
applicants for the same documents (even if
you know they are eligible) to avoid
potential racial discrimination.
The full list of acceptable documents is
available on the Home Office site here.
2. Checking the Documents
All the documents must be originals, copies
are not allowed.
It is your responsibility to check the
documents carefully; if you do not and an
employee turns out to have been employed
illegally you will be fined and could face
prosecution.
Here are the main things to check to ensure
the document is genuine:
-
Names – Is the same name on all the
documents, and is it spelt the same?
-
Dates - Are the documents within any
expiry dates listed on them?
-
Photographs – Do the photographs on the
documents actually look like the person?
-
Date of Birth – Does the age of the
candidate look accurate compared to
their appearance?
-
Endorsements – Do the endorsement stamps
allow the candidate to do the job you
are employing them for? Some stamps only
permit certain types of work.
3. Copying and Storing the Documents
When you have checked the documents, you
need to take a copy of all the relevant
pages to keep in your records.
You can take a photocopy, or scan the
documents into your pc. Once you have
scanned them, you need to store them on
secure media (E.g.: CDR or DVD-R) where the
information cannot be edited or deleted.
The copies should be kept with your
personnel records for at least three years.
4. Registration and Permits
Depending on what country your candidate is
from, you will need to follow a different
procedure; the three most likely situations
are:
Employing Someone from the A8 Countries
(Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia,
Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia):
Your worker must apply (or provide evidence
of exemption) to the A8 Worker Registration
Scheme within one month of starting work for
you. Application forms can be downloaded
from the
Working in the UK site here.
Employing Someone from the A2 Countries
(Bulgaria and Romania):
You will be required to check whether the
candidate needs to be authorised by the Home
Office before they start work. You must see
evidence that the candidate is exempt or get
them authorised before they start work.
Employing Someone from the EEA (EU countries
excluding those in the A8 and A2) or
Switzerland:
EEA and Swiss nationals are freely entitled
to work in the UK. They will need to show
you a passport or identity card from an
eligible country; or a permit/certificate
from the Home Office.
For more information on legal issues visit
our Business Law portal here.
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