uComply’s products are specifically designed to simplify the challenges businesses face today when employing. They are easy to use and comprehensive ensuring your are compliant with the Right to Work guidance.  We can help ensure you get a Statutory Excuse giving you peace of mind!

In addition, we can fully digitise your onboarding process to provide

• timely contracts of employment
• increase efficiency
• make you paperless
• reduce unnecessary travel

We’re delighted that uComply are at the Cleaning Show on Stand A11 do drop by as we’d love to see you

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It doesn’t matter what you are doing when it comes to compliance. It is not just about ‘lip service’ it’s about getting the process right.

The fines have now increased to £60,000 for employing illegal workers. You can’t as employers plead ignorance to a process that has been operational since 2008.

The question is, are you comfortable that you know what that process is?

Sadly, as recently reported, for one café Licensee, not keeping on top of the guidance changes could now result in their premises being closed in addition to fines being levied. The licence holder said that he

“Mistakenly believed a French passport to be sufficient as proof of right to work”

“Wrongly believed a National Insurance number to be sufficient to show a right to work”

This process risk is totally avoidable provided you follow the procedures as laid out in the Home Office guidance for Right to Work.

Ensure you follow the guidance to the letter and you will get a Statutory Excuse. This will prevent you getting fines for mistakes that you could not detect.

There is an alternative – use our regular training courses to stay on top the changes. In addition we have technology to ensure your recruiters do follow the steps required. If you see everyone face to face then uAuthenticate Mobile is for you. If you remotely recruit the use our Digital ID solution uIDentify.

You could combine this with our onboarding solution uOnboard which will enable a paperless onboarding experience for your new staff members.

Get in touch to find out how we can help you manage your entire recruitment process.

To read the article by Rory Bennet in Mylondon click here

The post The process matters appeared first on uComply.

The civil penalty for employers, which was last increased in 2014, will be raised by 300%. Up to £45,000 per illegal worker for a first breach, and up to £60,000 for repeat breaches.

In the last 5 years circa 5,000 civil penalties have been issued to employers totalling £88.4m. Immigration enforcement activity has increased. They are now at their highest levels since 2019, up 50% on last year. Early indications show mores arrests in 2023 than during the whole of 2022.

Minister for Immigration Robert Jenrick said, “Making it harder for illegal migrants to work and operate in the UK is vital to deterring dangerous, unnecessary small boat crossings. Unscrupulous landlords and employers who allow illegal working and renting enable the business model of the evil people smugglers to continue. There is no excuse for not conducting the appropriate checks and those in breach will now face significantly tougher penalties.”
“…Illegal working and renting are significant pull factors for migrants crossing the Channel, where people smugglers will often use the promise of jobs and housing to lure people into making these journeys. Increasing fines will deter employers and landlords from engaging in these illegal and dangerous practices, further deterring people from attempting to come to the UK illegally.”

“…It also undercuts honest employers, puts vulnerable people at risk of exploitation, cheats legitimate job seekers out of employment and defrauds the public purse as the businesses and workers do not pay taxes.”

Employers and landlords should check the eligibility of anyone they employ or let a property to. when following the guidance there are a number of ways to do this:

• a manual or technology based check of original documentation
• a Home Office online check

The checks should take a couple of minutes.

How we can help

Have you considered using technology in your Right to Work process?

There has never been a more important time to make sure that you’re compliant for Right to work checks. Please do check that you have followed/follow the guidance to ensure you get your Statutory Excuse.

We continue to see examples with questionable documents or imposters since the introduction of share-codes. In summary, our clients using our solution uAuthenticate Mobile or our Digital ID solution uIDentify ensure compliance with the current Home Office guidance including a uniform process across their business.

Would you like to have this protection?

We offer free trials of our solution uAuthenticate.

If technology is not for your we have regular training sessions where we go through the current guidance.

Ensure you get a Statutory Excuse and avoid fines . Give us a call to find out more or fill out our contact form and we will be in touch.

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How we recruit changed dramatically with the introduction of online recruitment during COVID and in October 2022 the Governments Digital ID scheme will come into full force. This facilitates remote recruitment for UK and Irish citizens with valid passports utilising an identity service provider (IDSP).

Here’s a high level summary on what it takes to remain compliant and still obtain a Statutory Excuse.

• Companies will need to see candidates face-to-face or virtually to ensure they tie back to the identification documents. This equally applies to the UK and Irish Digital ID process as well as Government e-visa programs.
• If workers are recruited face to face businesses need to know when to use physical documents vs. internet or cloud-based versions. Please see here for the latest guidance.
• For UK and Irish citizens ID where their passport has expired or they present birth certificates and National Insurance numbers it will require employers to see the original documents in the presence of the holder.
• TUPE transfers require Right to Work checks to be complete within 60 days of transfer. Employers should undertake “fresh” checks for TUPE transfers where there is insufficient evidence that the original checks took place.
• New European workers will need either a share-code or alternative documentation as per the guidance. E.g. if you employed them before the 1st July 2021 using a Passport or ID card this is acceptable. (i.e. list A acceptable documents establish a continuous Statutory Excuse for Right to Work). These do not require retrospective checks to be undertaken.

Ensuring ongoing compliance with the upcoming guidance changes – Digital ID

It’s important to familiarise yourself with the correct guidance at the time of employment as the penalties can be very high for incorrectly onboarding employees if they were found to be illegal. To ensure peace of mind also work with a reputable company that has experience within Right to Work.

With any major changes to the Right to Work guidance like Digital ID it’s vital you know its impact. Get in touch to find out how we can help with Digital ID or our complimentary technological solution uAuthenticate for your existing Right to Work process

This article does not constitute legal advice. For legal advice on immigration or employment law please consult a legal professional.

The post Digital ID more information appeared first on uComply.

Digital ID has recently become a “buzz word” banded about as a panacea for all things to do with onboarding checks for new and existing staff.

But, what is Digital ID?

• Digital ID is the government’s new method for applicants to validate their identity remotely.
• Our solution uIDentify works for all valid UK and Irish passports and passport cards.
• It can be used to validate these ID documents for DBS checks, Disclosure Scotland checks and Right to Work checks.
• When an applicant uses our digital ID solution to successfully verify themselves it removes the need to check identification documents face-to-face.

If you still see your candidates face-to-face then this is not for you. However we may be able to help you with our product uAuthenticate which will ensure your recruiting team correctly follow the Home Office guidance process and eliminate the risk of illegal workers.

Here’s a summary of the benefits of using our technology

• Allows for the recruitment of UK and Irish candidates remotely.
• Provides you assurance that the candidates documents presented are authentic.
• Reduces the risk of illegal workers.
• Increases your company’s compliance processes
• Gives you a central oversight of your onboarding process

As well as Digital ID, our solutions help with your recruitment onboarding processes. uOnboard :

• Creates one process for your candidates journey of employment starting with the right to work process
• Lets you see documents uploaded in real time
• Removes the need for paper as it’s totally digital and helps ensure greater GDPR compliance.
• Stores all your documents centrally, securely encrypted in the cloud for easy retrieval and management.
• Ensures your recruiting managers have everything in place before you incur additional costs e.g. DBS checks, HR enrolment etc.
• Enables you to issue a contract of employment before the employee starts

Get in contact with us to find our how we can help with not just the Digital ID but with your end-to-end onboarding process.

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The government have announced that the COVID19 temporary guidance ends on the 20th June. Physical checks of ID documents for Right to Work will need to start from the 20th June (changed from the 17th May) – are you ready?

How do you:

• Notify all your staff?
• Know the right combinations of documents have been captured?
• Ensure the documents presented are real?
• Your process remains GDPR Compliant?

However there are some options, offer further training, or alternatively, use our technology. Our solution uAuthenticate mobile:

• Is always up-to-date with the Right to Work Home Office guidance
• Through it’s wizard driven process, ensures your staff have captured the right combination of documents
• Uses your mobile phone to authenticate the documents and help you spot any fakes
• From a GDPR perspective, is secure and stores the documents in the cloud using the latest encryption technologies. Removes paper and stores all you information in a central cloud service.

Right to Work rule changes continue to be in the spotlight

With continual changes (the most recent example is between April and May the physical checks were required from 17th May; on the 12th May this has changed to the 21st June) it is essential to ensure you remain compliant with the employment landscape. It’s a long and winding road from the initial Brexit and the transition period especially when the Home Office guidance is being constantly updated and key milestones arrive.

Consequently, How do you manage to keep up?

From 1st July this year, there are different requirements when employing EU citizens. Specifically, EU citizens (aside from Irish citizens) must have a valid UK immigration status under the European Temporary Leave to Remain scheme, the EU Settlement scheme, or be sponsored through the new points-based immigration system.

Under the latest guidance if you employ an EU citizen who does not have appropriate immigration endorsement and who has not submitted a valid application under the EU Settlement scheme after 30 June 2021, they will be classed as an illegal immigrant.

There is a real risk that employers will face legal consequences for employing an illegal immigrant.

Forgive this hard hitting message about compliance.

For Right to Work, if your employee:

• Does not have permission to remain in the UK;
• Had permission to remain but it has expired;
• Is not allowed to do certain types of work; or
• Has incorrect or false papers;

….. you cloud be guilty of illegally employing an individual

The Home Office guidance indicates that company directors have a risk of personal liability if found to be employing illegal immigrants. The offense is a criminal one and comes into play if:

• you employ someone you know lacks the right to work in the UK,
• have reasonable cause to believe that to be the case,
• Suspect the worker is illegal.

Forget the £20,000 fine per illegal, as those found guilty of knowingly employing illegal workers can face unlimited fines and a jail term of up to five years.

In summary, changes to the new immigration system were announced before the UK left the EU in March 2019. Consequently, company directors are expected to know about the Home Office guidance for Right to Work. The Governments media have done their job well especially so in 2021.  Therefore, claiming ignorance would be an uphill struggle for any director to argue.

Technology and Right to Work represents a good answer

Fortunately, for Right to Work help is at hand with uAuthenticate

Contact us to find out more.

Alternatively, if you have a largely paper based process you could also take the opportunity to look at how simply we could help you create one digital flow for onboarding of staff through:

• Increasing efficiency
• Ensuring your staff follow your process
• Enhancing Security of data storage
• Eliminating paper

Finally, one for you to consider, uOnboard could be a great first step to digitsing your recruitment process and improving green credentials too.

The post Right to Work – Physical ID checks are needed from the 21st June appeared first on uComply.

What does this mean to you as an employer? You:

• Don’t need to carry out retrospective checks on those who had a COVID-19 adjusted check between 30.03.2020 and 20.06.2021
• Do need to check physical documentation from the 21st June 2021

To get a Statutory Excuse when employing under the COVID-19 temporary guidance you should:

• Ask the worker to submit a scanned copy or a photo of their original documents electronically
• Arrange a video call with the worker – ask them to hold up the original documents to the camera and check them against the digital copy of the documents
• Record the date you made the check and mark it as “adjusted check undertaken on [insert date] due to COVID-19”

Please do check to ensure that you have followed/follow the guidance to ensure you get your Statutory Excuse.

Consider auditing the staff you employed during the COVID-19 temporary guidance period to check that you have followed the process above.

Alternatively, have you considered using technology in your Right to Work process?

We at uComply have seen many examples where questionable documents have been used.

In summary, our clients using our solution uAuthenticate Mobile ensure compliance with the current Home Office guidance whilst identifying questionable documents.

Would you like to have this protection?

We offer free trials of our solution uAuthenticate – simply give us a call or fill out our contact form and we will be in touch.

The post End of COVID-19 Temporary guidance for Right to Work appeared first on uComply.

It’s massively important to us all, especially during these crazy times, to find a positive focus and your pet can help you through it all.

Our pets are usually important parts of our life and they give, give, give without asking for much in return. So, treat your pooch. Take them for a nice walk and spoil them. They deserve it.

If you’ve managed to eat all those extra portions of food during the festivities because you over-ordered for those guests who attended virtually why not include them in your schemes to lose those extra pounds. Regular walking will also help your pooch with their weight management as I’m sure like me they get their own extra treats over the Christmas period. At the risk of repeating myself, get out and walk your dog.

Not forgetting what it feels like to get some fresh air too. If you’re stuck indoors every day getting out and breathing some clean air does wonders. We all know that pet’s help with lowering blood pressure (that is when they are behaving!). Did you know that breathing deeply can clear your lungs, unblock a congested nose, give you more energy, focus your mind and it’s also good for lowering heart rate and blood pressure too.

Get out and walk your dog

Our “office dog” Sonny (above) tries very hard to be useful now that we’re working from home. He listens out for the door, interrupts your web calls and looks hopefully whenever you eat your lunch. He does however look forward to having quality time with us during walks. Surprisingly, whilst he can be quite demanding he’s also helping ground the whole family with his positive ways.

Steve’s dog (right) loves being out too but it does take a little more time to get him cleaned up.

If you walk the dog why not turn your phone onto silent and have a technology free time.
You’d be surprised what you may find in your local area, absorb your surroundings, look around and spot the wildlife and enjoy living in the moment. Take time to focus purely on your dog; chase them or take a ball to play fetch. They’ll appreciate your attention.  It also gives them the chance to be a dog, sniffing out scents and exploring different area’s.
Technology will still be there when you get back.

It’s a dogs life – or perhaps if you are from Jamaica, you could take your goat for a walk.

The picture was taken when last on holiday and there is no Photoshop involved, it really was a black and white goat!

It’s a shame that the current immigration guidance isn’t as clear. Why not try our technology based mobile solution it could help.

Each month we’ll try and post something new (not just business related) so, keep an eye out; you never know what’s coming next.

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If you actively employ European workers are you prepared?

Do you know what is happening with your existing workers?

Is there anything I can do to help with my existing staff?

From the 1st January 2021 for new European employees I’ve summarised the changes into 3 key points below for the new RTW rules. If:

• The employee has been resident in the UK for more than 5 years they should provide you with an EU settled status code. You, as an employer need to check this with the Home Office online portal
• The employee has been resident before the 31st December 2020 they should provide you with an EU pre-settled status code. Again, as an employer, you check this on the Home office portal but, make a note of the expiry date.
• They have arrived after 31st December 2020 and cannot produce an endorsement that you can validate. Then they are required to be sponsored under the new points-based system. However, employers have a duty not to discriminate against EU, EEA or Swiss citizens. You cannot require them to show you their status under the EU Settlement Scheme until after 30 June 2021. Therefore, You’ll need to check a job applicant’s right to work in the same way as now until 30 June 2021.

If you have existing workers who are from Europe then until June 2021 the current guidance remains in force. The employer does not have to police that their staff have applied for settled status. In short, EU/EEA nationals will be able to present their passports and/or ID cards to confirm their right to work in the UK.

Hiring from the 1st July remains unspecified and employers will need to check that EU/EEA nationals have appropriate endorsements. The Home Office in their new guidance document* (see note below) have indicated that they will update the guidance on how to conduct right to work checks on EEA nationals after 30 June 2021 in advance of this date.

Sounds confusing? It is important that employers check the governments’ guidance to ensure compliance. We can help with our virtual Right to Work training. Get in touch if you’d like to know more.

What can employers do in lieu of the New RTW rules?

A number of our clients have asked “what do we need to do”?

Template letter re the EU settlement scheme

In the short term the onus is firmly on the employee to prove their status.

For existing staff the Home Office suggests that employers may wish to communicate to their current EU staff informing them about the EU settlement scheme.

Points to note about your staff:

As the scheme is voluntary your staff do not have to apply:

• They do not need to apply if they are Irish citizens but still can do so.
• Not required if they have indefinite leave to remain or enter. However they can do so.
• As an employer you must not discriminate against EU nationals.
• It is important to note that if you need specific advice regarding the above you should contact an immigration expert.

We have a number of immigration firms who we can recommend.

For those employers who have a need to employ from the EU under the skilled worker scheme then you may wish to apply to become a Sponsor employer. There is a charge to be a Sponsor (from £536 PA) and additionally, a cost per individual worker dependent on the type of visa. For full details about the UK points based immigration system click here.

uAuthenticate will of course always be kept up-to-date as and when the guidance changes.

*The new guidance issued on the 17 December 2020 can be viewed here in detail.

Finally, if you have any questions please get in touch. Please use the ‘contact us’ message or, call 01707 802899

The post New RTW rules are coming appeared first on uComply.

We’re delighted to be a participant at the Manchester Cleaning show on Wednesday and Thursday 14th and 15th October. Our involvement in the show was originally in person but due to the current restrictions it’s now virtual.

We are delighted to be a finalist for the CSSA Innovation Showcase 2020 for our most recent innovation uOnboard.

Our virtual stand is A20b – visit us and see how we can help you onboard staff your way.

The post uComply exhibiting at the Manchester Cleaning show 2020 appeared first on uComply.