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BUSINESS IMMIGRATION

Right to work checks and illegal working in the digital age

Illegal working is big business, not only in terms of the sums made by those who facilitate it, but also in the penalties that are issued to employers (in the year to March 2024 employers were issued with fines totally £8m).

The Home Office’s guidance in this area changes regularly, partly to reflect changes in the immigration rules, but also to try to keep pace with the changing landscape of illegal working. This makes it so important for employers to stay on top of their compliance processes. Rapid advances in modern technology create new opportunities for illegal workers to find their way into an organisation under false pretences which increases the risk of businesses unwittingly becoming exposed to non-compliance and hefty fines.

In this episode, we will be looking at how employers can stay up to date and adopt the robust procedures needed to manage these threats, whilst at the same time ensuring that the issue doesn’t become so burdensome that it undermines operational efficiency.

How can an employer balance out these competing risks? Can the advances in technology support the prevention of illegal working and mitigate the risks for employers?

Hosted by Immigration and Employment expert Adam Williams, with our guest speakers for this episode including Julia Terry (HR director for Tenpin), and Tony Machin (CEO at leading provider of identity verification services, TrustID).

About the authors


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Adam Williams

Partner

Specialises in guiding corporate clients through UK business immigration and labour law aspects of operating in the UK and moving people across borders.

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