Policy overview
This policy sets out the legal requirements for carrying out the following checks on all employees and prospective employees:
- identification
- right to work checks
It also sets out our requirements when recruiting foreign nationals. It ensures the recruitment process remains fair, inclusive and non-discriminatory.
We are committed to the provision of employment to local and UK residents in the first instance. We consider the employment of foreign nationals only where there is a specific need to do so. This will be where:
- the required skills and qualities are not available within the UK
- fulfilling the post is essential
For the purpose of this policy, and with effect from 1 January 2021, 'foreign nationals' refer to non-UK or Irish citizens or citizens in the European Economic Area (EEA) that have successfully applied for settled or pre-settled status under the EU settlement scheme.
Principles
We have a responsibility, by law, to:
- comply with immigration legislation
- ensure than any migrant workers we employ are eligible to work in the UK
We must check documents of prospective employees before they start work. This provides us with a 'statutory excuse' which may avoid financial penalties.
For workers with a time limit on how long they can stay in the UK, we repeat document checks at least once a year. This is so we can retain the statutory excuse protection.
The most severe penalties are for knowingly employing an illegal worker. However even those who unknowingly employ illegal migrant workers can face severe financial penalties.
To comply with equality laws, we carry out document checks on all employees and prospective employees. We make no presumptions about a person's right to work in the UK based on their:
- background
- appearance
- accent
- race
- colour
- nationality
- ethnic
- national origins
- or, on the length of time they have been in the UK
Data protection
We must keep right to work documents for the duration of employment plus two years.