Baroness Scotland, the Attorney General, has provided employers
with a salutary warning this week. She has been fined £5,000
by the UK Border Agency for employing a non-EEA national who was
not permitted to work in the UK, breaching the law which she helped
to draft. Her name will also appear on the register of employers of
illegal migrants, which names and shames non-compliant employers.
As she did not keep copies of the documents she allegedly checked
to verify her housekeepers right to work in the UK, she could not
establish a Statutory Excuse against the penalty.
This high profile case shows how important it is that an
employer conducts illegal working checks before any employee begins
working and keeps the necessary records. Given the increased
activity of the UK Border Agency's compliance teams, employers
will only be able to avoid the risk of fines and reputational
damage by following well defined and rigorous processes.
