Avoid a £5000 fine - make sure your employees are legal [BT broadband office]

Avoid a £5000 fine - make sure your employees are legal

Posted 24 June 2008 at 9:01AM by Ian Betteridge in Doing business online

Read any local paper, and you'll find the prominent court reports detailing who's been up to no good - from car theft to a "dispute" outside a chip shop, there are the names and details of people you may know, all of whom have been dragged through the courts.

For local journalists, this kind of stuff is the meat and drink of their business, mostly because we British are generally a nosy lot. We like to know which of our neighbours have been up to no good, so "naming and shaming" has become something that our newspapers love to do.

So it's no surprise that the government has decided to "name and shame" companies, too - in particular, ones that have been caught and fined for giving jobs to people who aren't legally-cleared to work here. The grandly-named UK Border Agency now has a page on its web site which lists companies caught with illegal workers.

The restaurant trade seems to be the biggest offender here, with almost all the "named and shamed" coming from this sector. Scottish readers will be glad to know that they, together with Northern Ireland, appear to be paragons of honesty: not a single Scottish or Northern Irish company was convicted.

There is, of course, a serious point in all this. For a small business, a £5,000 fine per illegal employee can be a hefty price to pay, and in a tough economic climate it could be even more serious. So check that your employees are all qualified to work here - or you could end up in serious trouble.

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Comments

1. At June 25, 2008 9:15 AM, 'Razor' Ramone wrote:

I suspect it could be that Scottish companies, perhaps even especially in the hospitality sector, run with such a low overhead (since Scotland is typically a poorer Country than England is) that the fine imposed for hiring an illegal worker would be potentially devastating. So there's more incentive to hire only legal workers.

Additionally, the average wage is significantly lower up here, so you're more likely to get people from Scotland in semi-skilled jobs, as the wage is equivalent to what you would receive in many other jobs. In contrast, many English workers might find that restaurant work (typically paying Minimum Wage, or as little above it as can realistically be attained) is a little below what they might expect to receive in other work. Because typically your wage corresponds somewhat to your cost of living, it might well be that it's impractical to do these jobs. As such, your illegal workers (presumably we're talking about the vast majority being immigrant workers) will pick up these jobs as the only ones readily available. Not to say it's okay, we would prefer that everyone working in the Country has a right to do so, and is paying tax to improve the working and living conditions of everyone in the UK, but simply that it is understandable. After all, better an immigrant worker (even an illegal one) than a lifer on the benefits.

2. At June 25, 2008 3:47 PM, the Master Chief wrote:

I thought i would never say this - Razor you actually correct.
Well Spoken esp the bit on 'After all, better an immigrant worker than a lifer on the benefits '

3. At June 25, 2008 9:47 PM, James wrote:

Golden Employment Rule - It is simple - If you have any doubts what so ever - Then dont employ.

Better than a £5000 fine !!!

If the person does not seem to be straight or paperwork looks unfit for purpose in any way - Then dont employ.

If in doubt - Dont employ.

James

4. At June 26, 2008 8:57 AM, Chris Sabin wrote:

If the person does not seem to be straight or paperwork looks unfit for purpose in any way - Then dont employ.

All sounds good but remember some people have better rights than others. As long as you can prove you didnt discriminate then you can do that.

When it comes to illegal's, since they probably wont be able to produce paperwork, then dont employ them.

Out of interest, does the UK Border Agency give an example of what papers should be produced to prove they can legally work here? Without having seen one before im not sure i could tell the difference and therefore it would be my fault for employing someone without the correct paper work (In this case it would be).

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