The Government has confirmed it is to make employers fully responsible for checking that their employees are not illegal workers. Companies who fail to do this will be prosecuted if they are found to be employing illegal workers. This means employers will no longer be able to accept a National Insurance number or UK birth certificate as proof of a persons eligibility to work within the UK. Instead, employers will be required to check a single ‘secure’ document such as a passport or EU ID card and record this information. Where the correct documents cannot be produced, the employer must check two other documents from a list to be provided by the Government; and record that they have done so.
