Who’s afraid of the UK border agency?

Your new employee needs to prove to you that they have the right to work in the UK. You can put this on your adverts and you should not employ anyone until you have carried out a three-step process to make sure you are not breaking the law.

Firstly, you need to ask your new employee to bring with them, on their first day, documents to prove that they have the right to work in the UK. Details of what documents you can review are set out in the UK Border Agency website as these will depend on the nationality and immigration status of your new employee. Do not let them start work without doing this.

Secondly, you need to make sure that the document and the employee look as though they go together. The UK Border Agency expects you to emulate that Immigration Officer you see at Passport Control. Look for discrepancies in the name, or anything else that may show you that this is a fraudulent document.

Thirdly, you need to take permanent copies of the documents, date these and mark on them when and where you saw the document. You need to photocopy specific pages, including the front cover for passports. The UK Border Agency guidance will show you how to do this. You then need to keep the copies for up to two years after the employee has stopped working for you, just in case you get that unexpected visit from the UKBA.

Armed with all this, you will have a statutory excuse against a penalty, if the UKBA turns up at your door. After a TUPE transfer, you have 28 days to carry out this process, which should be top of your list of things to do. If you have never carried out this process, we would recommend you carry out an Immigration Audit as soon as possible and a specialist solicitor can help you with this.