I have written about the Home Office civil penalty regime previously and it seems that the Home Office are now pursuing civil penalties with renewed vigour against businesses which they consider to be unscrupulous and who are employing illegal workers. Employing a migrant in the UK who does not have permission to work or undertake the particular work in question can lead to the business being faced with enormous civil fines and also potential criminal prosecution. The Home Office have the power to issue a fine of up to £60,000 for every illegal worker found to be working without permission. Whilst receiving a civil penalty can be an extremely stressful and unnerving experience, it is important to bear in mind that such notices can be challenged and it is not unheard of for the Home Office to issue a civil penalty notice when, in actual fact, the migrant does have permission to work in the UK. There is a process that businesses can employ to challenge civil penalties if they believe that they have complied with all relevant laws and have not therefore fallen foul of the comprehensive regulations. Issuing civil penalties is big business for the Home Office. Between October to December 2024, the Home Office issued civil penalties approaching £30,000,000.
If a civil penalty notice is issued by the Home Office which can be by email and/or post, there is only 28 days in which to provide a response. The business will either put their hands up and accept that they have fallen foul of the regulations in which case will proceed to payment of the fine or if they are confident that they have followed the relevant rules and procedures, then they have the right to object to the notice and the objection can, for example, be upon the basis that the identified migrant was not actually employed by them or that they complied with all of the right to work checks including taking copies of prescribed documentation and having those copies date stamped. Upon this basis, the employer would argue that they have a defence.
If an objection is to be put forward, then it is very important that the objection is a comprehensive one and that all supporting evidence is included within it. Upon receipt of the objection, the Civil Penalty Compliance Team at the Home Office will review the objection notice and then respond by either cancelling the penalty, reducing it or maintaining their decision. If the Home Office maintain their position, then it is possible to challenge this through the County Court. Such action however should be very carefully considered because in the event that a civil court claim is refused, the business could be in a position of having to pay not only its own legal fees but also the legal costs of the Home Office.
When the Home Office issue a civil penalty, irrespective of the outcome, the business is named and shamed on the Home Office website. Simply being issued with a civil penalty can therefore lead to significant adverse publicity in the local media not to mention reputational damage. In summary, receiving a civil penalty notice from the Home Office can be a stressful and unpleasant event but there are steps which business can take to challenge such notices, and a robust and effective challenge can even lead to a civil penalty notice being cancelled. In the event that the business accepts that a civil penalty was rightfully issued, then it may even be possible to agree a payment plan for any penalty which is due to be paid.
For advice on this or any other immigration issue, please do not hesitate to contact Sohan Sidhu.
