Employment and Labor Law

Contact: Nyasha Gardner; Clarkslegal LLP (Reading, England)

The Home Office has published a new, updated version of its 'Full guide for employers on preventing illegal working in the UK'. This version replaces the previous one published in May 2012.

The substantive content remains the same but the main changes in the updated guidance are:

• Highlighting that the current restrictions on Bulgarian and Romanian nationals being will come to an end on 31 December 2013. From 1 January 2014 these nationals will be able to work freely in the UK.
• Setting out the restrictions on Croatian nationals which came into force on 1 July 2013. From this date Croatians have been able to enjoy the freedom of movement rights within the EU however the UK has applied a transitional restriction on their access to the UK labour market. This means that from 1 July 2013 Croatian nationals can only work in the UK if they hold the valid authorisation document or if exempt from work authorisation.

The current penalty for employing illegal workers is a fine of up to £10,000 per employee.

It is therefore important for employers and HR professionals to carry out the correct checks and keep the required documents. Where checks are carried out properly you will have a legal (statutory excuse) against payment of a civil penalty.