The Immigration (Restrictions on Employment) (Code of Practice and Miscellaneous Amendments) Order 2018

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Order)

An employer is excused from paying a penalty under section 15 of the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006 (c. 13) if the employee produces to the employer any of the documents described in the Schedule to the Immigration (Restrictions on Employment) Order 2007 (S.I. 2007/3290) (“the 2007 Order”) and if the employer complies with the requirements prescribed under article 6 of that Order.

Additionally, paragraph 5 of Schedule 6 to the Immigration Act 2016 (c. 19) empowers a court to make an illegal working compliance order to prevent an employer from employing an illegal worker. The Illegal Working Compliance Orders Regulations 2016 (S.I. 2016/1058) (“the 2016 Regulations”) prescribe the right to work checks which a court may require a person specified in an illegal working compliance order to carry out, and the documents which a court may require a person specified in an illegal working compliance order to produce to an immigration officer.

Article 2(6) amends the 2007 Order to set out the circumstances in which an employer is excused from paying a penalty by carrying out a right to work check using the Home Office online right to work checking service.

Article 2(7) makes amendments to the 2007 Order to clarify the requirement that employers must carry out a right to work check prior to the commencement of employment in order to be excused from paying a penalty.

Article 2(10) amends the 2007 Order to remove the requirement to provide a full birth or adoption certificate, permitting short certificates to be relied upon when evidencing a person’s right to work.

Article 3(4) amends the 2016 Regulations to provide that a relevant person can be required to use the Home Office online right to work checking service.

Article 3(8) amends the 2016 Regulations to include copies of an online right to work check in the list of documents that can be required to be produced to an Immigration Officer.

Article 3(10) amends the 2016 Regulations to remove the requirement to provide a full birth or adoption certificate, permitting short certificates to be relied upon when evidencing a person’s right to work.

Article 4 brings into force a revised code of practice specifying factors to be considered by the Secretary of State in determining the amount of a penalty.

Other minor ancillary changes are made to other provisions of both instruments.

A full impact assessment has not been prepared for this instrument as no, or no significant, impact on the private, voluntary or public sectors is foreseen.