Statutory Defence Essay

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EMPLOYING ILLEGAL WORKERS
6.1 Criminal liability. It is a criminal offence for an employer to employ a person who is not entitled to work in the UK. An employer found guilty of an offence is liable to a fine not exceeding level 5 (currently £5,000) for each illegal worker employed. An employer will have a statutory defence to any prosecution if it has checked the original and kept a copy of one or more of a number of specified documents verifying the individual’s right to work in the UK
(check the Work Permits (UK) website (see page 45) for a full list). If an employee provides a
UK or EEA/Swiss passport or national identity card, no other documents are required. If an employee does not provide this, an employer must ask for either:
(a) a document …show more content…

Although it is not compulsory, it is advisable for an employer to ask potential employees to produce at least one of these documents prior to the start of their employment so that it can take advantage of the statutory defence. However, the defence will not be available if the employer has actual knowledge that it would be an offence to employ the individual.

6.2 Race Discrimination. An employer who carries out more rigorous checks on potential employees who look or sound foreign may be found liable for unlawful race discrimination.
Therefore, it is important that all applicants are treated in the same way and are asked to produce the same type of document verifying their right to work in the UK. The Governmenthas issued a Code of Practice containing guidance on the measures which employers are expected to take in order to comply with their obligations and to avoid unlawful race discrimination. The Code of Practice is available from the Immigration and Nationality
Directorate website (see page …show more content…

(c) Benefits – in addition to basic salary, many employers offer additional benefits such as a pension scheme, a bonus or commission scheme, private health insurance, long term disability insurance, death in service insurance, a company car (or car allowance), gym membership and share options. Brief details of all of these would normally be included in the contract of employment with the exception of share options which are normally dealt with in a separate share option agreement.
(d) Confidentiality / IPR – if the employee is likely to have access to the employer’s confidential information, it is advisable for the employment contract to include specific provisions identifying the information and providing that the employee must not use it for personal gain or disclose it to any unauthorised person at any time during their employment or after its termination. Further, if the employee’s work is likely to give rise to intellectual property rights then the contract can include provisions requiring the employee to assign any rights to the employer. Alternatively, some employers require employees to enter into separate agreements dealing with

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