Civil Penalty for Illegal Working UK Lawyers

Yes. A civil penalty can be reduced by paying the full amount within three weeks. The deadline to pay the reduced amount is shown on the civil penalty notice.

Conduct right to work checks on new employees before they start work. Have a system in place to re-check employees who have a temporary right to work.

Keep good clear records of the right to work checks to prove that you did them correctly.

Make sure the people with responsibility for recruitment has training on how to carry out right to work checks and refresh this regularly.

Check the Home Office published guidance on right to work checks every time they do one and use an up to date checklist. This is because the guidance is updated frequently. What might have been acceptable in previous years may not be acceptable now.

If you have not carried out right to work checks at the start of employment, seek advice. Conduct the checks now. If you identify workers who do not have the right to work, seek urgent advice as you may be able to avoid a penalty if you self-report.

Since 13^th February 2024 the starting point for a first offence is £45,000 per worker. For a repeat offence it is £60,000 per worker. This can be reduced in specific circumstances. These are: If you co-operated with the Home Office, If you self-reported the breach to the Home Office, If you can show that you have effective right to work checking systems in place,           If you can show all three of these on a first offence, you can reduce the penalty to a warning.

As set out above, you can also get a reduction for early payment.

An objection notice is included with the Civil Penalty Notice. You should complete this in full with the reason for objection and return it to the Home Office. The deadline to do this will be shown on the Civil Penalty Notice. If the Home Office uphold the penalty then you can appeal to the County Court. There are very strict deadlines for this so you should seek legal advice as early as possible.

Yes, civil penalties are made public on the government website.

It is an offence to employ someone who does not have the right to work in the UK. However, If you have correctly completed a right to work check that shows that an employee has the right to work, this gives you a ‘statutory excuse’. This means that you will have a defence and will not get a civil penalty. For example, you conduct a right to work check that shows that the employee has the right to work for another two years. That employee’s visa is unexpectedly cancelled after six months, but they do not inform you and they keep working. They are working illegally, but if this is identified by the Home Office, you are protected from a civil penalty because you did a correct right to work check.

To keep your sponsor licence secure, your business must be prepared for Home Office compliance checks. These inspections ensure that your systems, records, and processes meet all key sponsor duties. It’s essential that your records are accurate, up to date, and readily available upon request. You should be able to clearly demonstrate to the compliance officer how your HR and monitoring systems operate, and confirm that your sponsorship management system (SMS) reflects the correct business information. All key personnel roles—such as Authorising Officer, Key Contact, and Level 1 User—must also be properly assigned and active. Our expert sponsor licence application solicitors can help you prepare for Home Office visits by conducting mock audits, reviewing your internal procedures, and ensuring full compliance to protect your business from licence suspension or revocation.