There are now a myriad of documents that enable workers to take up different posts in the UK.
But even though the UK Borders Agency published new guidelines in relation to its five-tier visa system earlier this month, employers still face a huge amount of risk when dealing with items that all too common such as ambiguous letters from embassies and/or complicated visa extensions.
The problem is, however, that under the new regulations, hiring illegal staff will result in a civil penalty of up to £10,000 for each worker involved as well as the ‘naming and shaming’ of offending organisations on the UKBA website.
Criminal proceedings can also be taken against any employer that has permitted someone to work illegally.
Therefore, the key challenge for HR is to understand a given candidate’s nationality, the visa that they should have and whether or not it is appropriate for the kind of job for which they are applying.
Although some level of standardisation would obviously be desirable here, sadly the UKBA does not yet have the necessary technology in place to offer it at the moment.
But the danger of this situation for HR professionals is that they could end up being blamed – and fined – for failing to identify ineligible candidates correctly, despite not having been given suitable tools to make an accurate assessment.
To make matters worse, there appears to be little or no dialogue between the UKBA and the HR industry, which it expects to implement its policies.
Nonetheless, there are ways for HR practitioners to protect themselves when hiring overseas candidates. Here are seven suggestions to help people assess whether the job applicant they are thinking of hiring has the legal right to work in the UK:
1 Ask for proof of candidates’ identity
Before you do anything else, review the candidate’s identity and do not proceed until it has been confirmed.
Job applicants should be able to provide you with two forms of photographic personal identification and one document confirming their address.
Alternatively, request one form of photographic personal identification and two original documents such as utility bills and official communications such as a letter from HM Revenue & Customs or a bank credit card statement that is both less than three months old and addressed to the applicant at their declared home address.
Another consideration is to ask for the candidate’s signature for comparison purposes.
2. Make questions generic
Ask all job applicants about their immigration status and not just those that you assume may be foreign nationals or you could open yourself up to a race discrimination charges. It is not safe to assume that simply because candidates appear to be British that they can work legally.
By the same token, ensure that you refrain from asking questions about political or religious beliefs – unless it is relevant to the job in question. If that is the case, then ask the same questions of each candidate.
3. Review identity documents
When looking at an employee’s passport or visa, check that the pages are numbered correctly, the photograph is not overly large, the expiry dates match up and there are no spelling mistakes.
Blank pages of identity documents should be held up to the light in order to check the watermark. Utility bills and bank statements do not comprise identity documents in and of themselves, however, as, unlike passports and ID cards, they do not include security features.
There is a useful list of authentic identity documents templates available here. But whatever combinations of documents are presented to you, ensure that you see the originals, and keep a photocopy securely for the duration of each individual’s employment as well as two more years afterwards.
That way you will have all of the necessary evidence on file should the UKBA wish to check that you have complied with the law.
The idea is that, understanding procedures and following them to the letter, will give you some defence against having breached the Immigration & Asylum Act if it transpires that you have inadvertently hired an illegal worker.
4. Check that secondary documentation is genuine
False tax documents, pay slips, degree certificates, headed paper from utility companies and fake documentation can all be acquired online these days, so don’t check any one of these documents in isolation.
Cross-reference them with others that have been supplied and if they don’t match, ask for further evidence.
5. Repeat checks every 12 months
If the job applicant has a time limit on their stay, it will be necessary to review and repeat-check their documents every 12 months should they be taken on. But remember that these checks and reviews are more than a ’nice to have’ – they are vital to ensure that both you and your employer are covered legally.
Another thing to bear in mind, however, is that procedures must be robust and approached methodically in order to deal adequately with what is an extremely serious and complex area of employment law.
6. Inform candidates about what is happening
You must let applicants know that the documents they have provided will be checked for authenticity. Also ensure potential employees understand that any offer of employment will be conditional upon them satisfactorily providing you with relevant documentation.
7. Give people a chance
If you doubt that a given candidate’s documents are genuine, deal with the issue sensitively. Ideally, ask them to come back for a return interview in order to give you a chance to review the information provided and investigate its validity.
Meanwhile, something to bear in mind is that, since November 2008, biometric residence permits have been issued to foreign nationals from outside the European Economic Area and Switzerland.
Formerly known as identity cards for foreign nationals, they show the holder’s entitlement to work, study or access public funds across Europe. Immigrants from elsewhere, on the other hand, continue to receive a sticker, or vignette, in their passport that will need to be checked as assiduously as any other documentation.
If you are concerned, or need clarification about any immigration-related issue, however, contact the UK Borders Agency on 0300 123 4699 – and log both your query and their response.
James Whittaker is sales manager at authentication systems provider, TSSI.
