The Government is consulting on further measures aimed at making it more difficult for illegal migrants to live and work in the UK.
The measures include tougher civil penalties for rogue businesses that employ illegal migrants, including an increase in the maximum penalty to £20,000 per illegal worker for employers who repeatedly break the rules and the recovery of civil penalties from directors and partners of limited liability businesses where the business has failed to pay.
At the same time, the Government has put forward a number of proposals to make life easier for legitimate businesses, including reducing the number of documents an employer needs to check to establish a person’s right to work in the UK.
The plans will form part of the Immigration Bill being introduced later this year.
The consultation, ‘Prevention of illegal working: Strengthening and simplifying the civil penalty scheme’, closes on 20 August 2013 and follows two earlier consultations on reducing access to free NHS care and rented accommodation for illegal migrants.