Employing Foreign Workers (Direct Payments)
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Section 8 of the Asylum and Immigration Act requires all U.K. employers to make document checks on all persons they intend to employ. You must carry out these checks before someone begins working for you. In order to make these checks and so comply with the law, you must do the following:
Ask them to provide the following:
- One of the original documents from list 1 or
- Two of the original documents in the combinations given in list 2.
List 1
- A passport showing that the holder is a British citizen or has the right of abode in the U.K
- A document showing that the holder is a national of a European Economic Area (EEA) country or Switzerland. This must be a national passport or national identity card
- A residence permit issued by the Home Office to a national from a European Economic Area or Switzerland
- A passport or other document issued by the Home Office which has an endorsement stating that the holder has a current right of residence in the U.K. as the family member of a national from an EEA country or Switzerland who is resident in the U.K
- A passport or other travel document that shows that the holder can stay indefinitely in the U.K. or has no time limit on their stay
- A passport or other travel document endorsed to show that the holder can stay in the U.K., and that this endorsement allows the holder to do the type of work you are offering if they do not have a work permit
- An application Registration Card issued by the Home Office to an asylum seeker stating that the holder is permitted to take employment.
List 2
This covers the combinations of documents that will provide you with a defence. You will not have the defence if you see one document from the first combination and one from the second combination.
First Combination
- A document giving the person’s permanent National Insurance number and name. This could be a P45, P60, National Insurance card or a letter from a government agency
- Along with checking and copying a document giving the person’s National Insurance number, you must also check and copy one of the documents listed below
- A full birth certificate issued in the U.K. which includes the names of the holder’s parents or
- A birth certificate issued in the Channel Islands, The Isle of Man or Ireland or
- A certificate of registration or naturalisation stating that the holder is a British citizen or
- A letter issued by the Home Office to the holder that indicates that the person named in it can stay indefinitely in the U.K. or has no time limit on their stay or
- An Immigration Status Document issued by the Home Office to the holder with an endorsement indicating that the person named in it can stay indefinitely in the U.K., or has no time limit on their stay or
- A letter issued by the Home Office that indicates that the person named in it can stay in the U.K. and this allows them to do the kind of work you are offering.
Second Combination
- A work permit or other approval to take up employment that has been issued by Work Permits U.K
- Along with a document that has been issued by Work Permits U.K., you should also check and copy one of the following documents below
- A passport or other travel document endorsed to show that the holder is able to stay in the U.K. and can take the work permit employment in question or a letter issued by the Home Office to the holder confirming that the person named in it is able to stay in the U.K. and take the work permit employment in question.
Next
You are required to satisfy yourself that your potential employee is the rightful holder of the documents they present to you. You must carry out the following reasonable steps when checking your potential employees documents:
- Check any photographs to ensure that you are satisfied that they are consistent with your potential employee
- Check that the dates of birth listed are consistent with the appearance of your potential employee
- Check that the expiry dates have not passed
- Check any U.K. Government stamps or endorsements to see if your potential employee can do the type of work you are offering
- If your potential employee gives you 2 documents from list 2 that have two different names, you should ask for a further document to explain the reason for this. The further document could be a marriage certificate, divorce document, deed poll, adoption certificate or statutory declaration.
Next
Photocopy or scan the following parts of the documents shown to you:
- The front cover and all the pages giving the potential employee’s personal details, in particular the photograph and signature pages
- Any page containing a U.K. Government stamp or endorsement that allows the employee to do the type of work you are offering.
You should then keep a copy of every document you have copied. By doing this, the Immigration Service will be able to examine your right to the defence if they detect anyone working illegally for you.
Which Countries are part of the European Economic Area (EEA?)
Austria; Belgium; Bulgaria, Cyprus; Czech Republic; Denmark; Estonia; Finland; France; Germany; Greece; Hungary; Iceland; Ireland; Italy; Latvia; Liechtenstein; Lithuania; Luxembourg; Malta; Netherlands; Norway; Poland; Portugal; Romania, Slovakia; Slovenia; Spain; Sweden; United Kingdom.
Nationals from Switzerland also have the same free movement and employment rights as existing EEA nationals.
You will need to ensure that potential workers from the countries listed in bold type register with the Home Office, but they are free to work in the U.K. Nationals from Cyprus or Malta are not required to register with the Home Office.
A person's documents must be checked at the time of recruitment, and if their visa has an expiry date on it, documents must be checked every 12 months.
For further information, you may wish to visit the Home Office website or alternatively Employing migrant workers website. This site provides a step-by-step online guide to checking whether the workers you intend to employ are living and working legally. It will also show you what all of the documents that your worker may show you should look like.
There is also a phone helpline for people considering employing migrant workers: 0845 010 6677.
Your Direct Payments Adviser can also help you.
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Email this pageLast modified by: Neha Shah on 01/09/2011