Audit and Compliance Services
Audit and compliance services
The Home Office code of practice outlines the responsibility you have to prevent illegal working in the UK. It also sets out the penalties for illegal working, and the restrictions on sponsoring non-EEA nationals to work in the UK.
If you don’t make sure your business is compliant there can be severe penalties, but knowing whether you are compliant in all areas can be difficult.
Ensuring your business is compliant
To avoid large fines for you and your business, you must be fully compliant with UK immigration and employment law at all times .
Our immigration solicitors support businesses like yours by providing training programs, audits and compliance services. Contact us today to find out what we can do for you.
In-house compliance training
With such high risks, your team need to know exactly what they are doing. At AWH Solicitors we can provide you with in-house training on compliance, best-practice recruitment and employment procedures. In addition, we can help you carry out regular checks and yearly assessments for your business.
By ensuring that you are compliant with the UK’s illegal working laws, as well as your sponsorship duties, we can protect your business. We can also help lessen problems should you discover any breaches of current legislation and help you apply for any sponsorship licences should you need them.
Our services are of particular use to companies on the Home Office’s register of sponsors as well as any organisations wishing to become sponsors in the future.
It does not matter if you hold a sponsorship licence or not, all businesses can benefit from our compliance services because the Home Office regulations apply to everyone.
Permission to work checks
Permission to work checks are a well-known duty for employers, but it’s a task that many simply ignore.
Failing to check someone’s permission to work in the UK, or to collect and store the proper documentation that proves the right to work, is serious. It can lead to fines of up to £20,000 per illegal worker and, if it can be assumed you were aware of the breach, it could even result in imprisonment.
If you are found guilty of employing someone illegally and it is reasonably believed you knew they did not have the right to work, you could be jailed for up to five years and pay an unlimited fine.
This would include cases where you knew:
- Your employee did not have permission to enter or remain in the UK
- Their visa had expired
- That they were restricted from doing the job you were employing them to do
- They had shown you paperwork which was falsified.
As an employer, carrying out right to work checks is your responsibility and you will be penalised if you don’t.
Our expert immigration solicitors can help you run your right to work checks smoothly and in line with Home Office requirements.
Our compliance training
Improving recruitment processes
At AWH Solicitors we work to improve the recruitment processes of our clients who want to attract talent from overseas. We prepare your human resource processes and personnel by providing hands-on training and guidance.
Our immigration audit services are tailored to meet your needs and assist you in avoiding potential fines.
We will ensure that all aspects of compliance are considered to suit your business needs, including:
- Document checking systems (which documents are acceptable, the validity of these documents, certifications, appropriate storage and diary management of key dates)
- Following the codes of practice in-line with your business needs, to help you prevent illegal working and avoid unlawful discrimination
- Sponsorship requirements in-line with the minimum skills set, salary expectations and advertising for those jobs
- Managing the hours of students and Tier 4 workers whose working hours are restricted
- Reporting information about individuals to the Home Office, where required
- Ongoing follow up checks in line with the UK Visa and Immigration specifications
Contents of our training
Our training covers immigration compliance tailored to your organisations’ requirements. Our in-house training includes:
- A clear overview of immigration legislation for employers
- Documenting your right to work activities and records of employment
- Monitoring of non–EEA workers
- Your general responsibilities as an employer recruiting foreign nationals
- What to do if faced with a civil penalty notice
We want to ensure that our training prepares you for recruitment, so we help you get your operational practices fully compliant.
Immigration audit and compliance services
Let us help
Our audit and compliance service will always be completely tailored to your organisational needs. Before we get started we will design a service package customised to you, to ensure you get the most out of our guidance and training options.
To get a better idea of exactly what we can do for you, get in touch today.