As soon as you decide you want to take on a new employee, you must make sure they have the right immigration permission to work for you in the UK.

I can check your business procedures and provide you with a report on your compliance with immigration law. You can also help yourself by considering what steps you need to take before, during, and at the end of the employment relationship.

Before employment starts:

• Check and copy right-to-work documents from the list available on the Home Office website
• Draw up a suitable contract: it could be useful to make it a condition of the contract that an employee must provide you with documents proving they have a right to work
• In some cases you might need to register as a sponsor under the Points-Based System: check that you understand all the requirements of the scheme

During the employment relationship:

• You might need to re-check an employee’s right to work at intervals
• If you are a sponsor then you might need to report certain events to the Home Office

When employment comes to an end:

• If you are a sponsor then you should report to the Home Office if a sponsored employee leaves
• If you have to dismiss an employee then ensure you follow an appropriate procedure
• Make sure you keep any right to work documents for the correct length of time

If you would like to talk about what your business needs to do to comply with immigration law, contact me.