The selection process

To avoid allegations of discrimination it is important that you separate your employee selection process from the immigration status of a prospective employee.  You cannot employ an overseas worker without their having permission to work here.  What we suggest is that you advertise, shortlist and conduct interviews without enquiring into a candidate's immigration status.  Once you have selected a candidate you will need to check that they are entitled to work in the UK and entitled to do the job which you require them for.  This can of course be time consuming and cumbersome but bear in mind that fines under the Race Discrimination Act are unlimited.

Pre-employment checks

Once you have selected a new employee, before taking them on it is vital that you carry out checks on their immigration status.  Otherwise, if it turns out that they should not be in the UK, or should not be working for you, you could face a penalty of up to £10,000!  To ensure that you have a defence to any legal action brought against you, you need to carry out three vital steps:

1.    You need to check one or more original documents, for example a passport or a residence card.  (There are two long lists of documents which you can look at.  It is important that you consult the UKBA website for more detail, or take free initial legal advice from us).
2.    You need to check that the document(s) actually belong to the prospective employee - for example does any photograph look like them?  Is the date of birth consistent with the employee's appearance?
3.    You need to keep a copy of the document(s) and to retain them for at least two years after they cease to work for you. 

Continuing checks

For those employees who are not British, settled or European, you need to check their permission to work for you at least every 12 months. 

Obtaining a licence to employ Non-European Nationals

Whilst many overseas nationals will be able to work for you in their own right, for example through marriage to a European National, you may need a licence to employ a skilled worker from abroad.  Once the licence is obtained you will be able to issue a "certificate of sponsorship” to a skilled worker, if you are unable to recruit within Europe.  There are many obligations which come with being a licensed sponsor, and many limitations on who you can issue a certificate to.  The UKBA has recently imposed restrictions on the number of certificates that an employer can issue and it is important that you have all the information to hand before applying for a licence. 

We also advise you on how the key clauses work and what - if any - key dates there are.  As we say, we are always there for businesses who are in our BLUE LAW scheme, so we invite you to join BLUE LAW now. Once you have joined, we try to answer any legal enquiries that you have, free of charge. If legal work is needed, we give you a price, and you are then free to "shop around".  If you wish to speak to us now, please click on "Please Contact Me Now” or call us on 0800 084 3256. We look forward to always being there for you.