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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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.

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.

Technology helps your recruitment process consistently comply with the regulations in place, thereby reducing your training requirements and key person dependencies.

A great benefit of using technology and digitising your process is that you can:

• eliminate paper
• increase security of PII
• enhance your green credentials

We at uComply are looking at ways where we can help all businesses get back on the ‘right footing’.

In June we launched our Return to Work offer of a uAuthenticate Mobile licence for a donation to charity. Our chosen charity is NHS Charities Together (registered charity no. 1186569).

We are also offering our web based solution uAuthenticate Web free of charge during the COVID-19 period. This allows your onboarding process to fully comply with the new temporary change to the Home Office Right to Work guidance.

We have recently become an accredited ‘Made in Britain’ company. We hope our contributions can help companies have confidence for a safe Return to Work.

Embrace technology to ensure your Right to Work process is correct and at the same time help stimulate Britain’s recovery.

In summary, we believe that if everyone pulls together we can get through whatever COVID-19 throws at us.

Call us to see how our process driven technology can help you.

The post Return to Work – what you need to consider appeared first on uComply.

However, when you taking on new employees you do have to comply with the Home Office guidance for Right to Work.

Our RTW offer

For a donation to charity we are offering every employer one licence of uAuthenticate Mobile valid until December 2020. Our chosen charity is NHS Charities Together (registered charity no. 1186569)

All employers are under pressure during this period and uComply would like to help. To comply with the guidance can seem onerous. You need to follow the Home Office RTW guidance. Click here to see the full 40 pages of documentation. Adopt technology, use our RTW APP in your organisation.

What is the RTW guidance?

The full RTW guidance asks that you:

• See the original document and ensure that it is genuine
• Tie the document/s to the individual, this can be using video.
• Have proof that the checks were made, including a signature and date of the check

Perform these checks and you will get a Statutory Excuse against prosecution if the candidate is illegal.

The image to the left shows how, using a few steps, our technology could help you follow the RTW process. If you would like ensure you have full compliance why not take a look at uAuthenticate Mobile

During the COVID-19 outbreak there are temporary changes in place to the current home office guidance for RTW:

• Ask the worker to submit a scanned copy or a photo of their original documents
• 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 presented
• Record the date you made the check and mark it as “adjusted check undertaken on [insert date] due to COVID-19”

Once the COVID-19 period has ended you have 8 weeks to review the original documents.

This applies to all staff taken onboard during the current outbreak.

Our solution uAuthenticate Web will safely take you through this process and ensure you stay compliant with the RTW process. It will seamlessly dove-tail into our mobile solution to ensure any face to face checks are done in-line with the current guidance.

Help your business. Donate to charity. Let’s get Britain going again.

If you would like to know more please get in contact with us.

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Businesses of all sizes are facing a number of employment challenges when it comes to the onboarding of staff. From our research we found three challenges consistently came up as important:

Green credentials – Environmental impact is important to all. Gartner believes between 1 & 3% of a companies revenue can be spent on printing services. Each employee can utilise 8000 sheets PA and that’s one equivalent to one Tree!
Compliance – when employing workers we need to ensure that all onboarding steps have taken place. Examples include Health and Safety, training, GDPR compliance and information capture is accurate and consistent across the the recruitment process.
Cost & efficiency – Margins are tight you need to reduce cost, maximum controls and be able to demonstrate their full compliance to management at a glance

It may surprisingly to some of you that the Cleaning and FM sectors require very high levels of compliance. When you combine this with the need to present a low environmental footprint there is an impact on margins.

Our innovation the “Employment Challenge” speaks to all the above.

The removal of paper speaks directly to the green credentials of the environmental challenge.

However, most people forget about the peripherals in use with paper.

You get an instant reduction in printer and toner use together with less space for storage of the printing, going green looks cheaper.

Lastly, avoid the need for unnecessary travel and time when you ensure the process is right the first time.

The next Employment Challenge is compliance. You start with the right to work. Then you need to ensure training and health and safety with documentation for proof. Finally you can employ/pay your staff. Any breaks in this process result in risk to either the individual or the business and a reduction in efficiency.

The CSSA’s Deputy Chairman Sean caught up with the MD and Operations director after uComply’s innovation presentation which you can see below:

The actual Innovation showcase event was due to be on the 19th March sadly, COVID-19 has got in the way.We will let you know when it is rescheduled.

Finally, you don’t have to wait for the showcase why not contact us to find out how we look to satisfy the Employment challenge.

The post The Employment Challenge for Onboarding appeared first on uComply.

This post which we shared on our company’s page on linkedin (our IT fairies have been working on our new website) which from the feedback many people found useful. Please book mark it for any updates. We hope you can stay safe.

Whenever we have no choice but to interact with others outside of our everyday contacts we need to consider

1. Do we need to actually have to meet them in person?
2. If we do then stop and think first.
3. Avoid physical contact – please don’t shake hands
4. Don’t forget the virus stays longer on hard surfaces

These are simple steps we can take to protect ourselves, our staff and stay safe.

1. Can we see them over video rather than face to face rather than in person
2. Can we ensure a 6ft distance and keep to social distancing
3. Please don’t shake hands – [perhaps focus on a verbal greeting)
4. Wash your hands and don’t forget any surfaces that have been touched by your visitors

We are very fortunate as a company to be able to work remotely and therefor
can avoid physical contact and hope we fervently that you all stay safe.

The post Stay safe in today’s new world – COVID-19 appeared first on uComply.

How easy is it to obtain illegal documents?

The grey lining to our silver cloud is that this makes the UK an attractive place for all especially with the numbers of illegal documents out there. There are many from within Europe and beyond who have their eyes firmly set on working and living in the UK but, they don’t all have the necessary criteria for legal entry. So, what do they do?

The BBC published a video in May where they went undercover to see how easy it would be to obtain EU documents in Turkey.

It presents a new problem where the refugees who obtained permission to be in Europe legally are selling their documents (great use of recycling!).

Yet again, we find that social media is doing its bit. Without giving too much away, Facebook seems to be one of the sites facilitating the sale of these documents.

The video highlighted the sales of a German issued Schengen Visa but other documents are available at a price. It’s well worth the watch. Click here to view: BBC how easy to get an illegal passport

It really highlights how the criminal world can further exploit individuals using indebtedness.

Exploitation is out there

A typical scenario is;

• Immigrant arrives in the UK planning to stay
• Debts are built up by the immigrant from rent, food and illegal documents.
• The immigrant cannot easily get a bank account so one is given to them by the “landlord”.

Now they have documentation, address, a bank account. They can work?

The GLAA (The Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority) looks to stop this type of scenario:

• Prevent workers from being exploited for their labour;
• Protect workers and potential victims so making them less vulnerable to being exploited for their labour;
• Pursue relentlessly, disrupting and prosecuting those who engage in the exploitation of workers.

We all as employers have a role to play in the modern slavery or more politely exploitation of people. By following the Home Office guidance on Right to Work we can help reduce this activity, but….

This presents another challenge for employers – “The Imposter”.

This is where uComply can help – with training

There are a number of steps mandated in the Home Office guidance.

One of them ensures that the person you are seeing with the original documents at the time of the check is actually the person depicted on those documents.

Fortunately, nature has helped us out here. Simply put, most people have a natural ability to recognise faces but, ensuring we all do this consistently needs an established process which everyone follows.

The picture on the left (me on a good day) gives a summary of what you can do.

When we train people, we use this as well as other techniques to hone this skill.

We all understand as employers that employing illegal workers can result in fines of £20,000 per illegal worker and or a prison sentence.

Importantly though, employing an imposter will incur a fine if the worker is deemed illegal. There are no legitimate excuses for not spotting a substitute person.

The reason why we follow the Home Office guidance is to get a statutory excuse. It has never been more important to follow the Right to Work process.

The risk of illegal documents is still there though. With people still willing to sell fake documents, illegal documents can and do find their way on to the market. Check it out, type “buy fake document” into a search engine. You will find many websites blatantly offering fake documents for sale. Vigilance in this arena still required.

Technology combined with training helps identify illegal documents.

Did you know that even a smart phone can be used to establish the authenticity of a passport, ID card, Visa, Biometric Residents Permit and even a driving licence?

Utilising “Near Field Communication” (NFC) capabilities the chip found on the identity documents is readable.

This gives the user an unparalleled opportunity to prevent the use of illegal documents in the enrollment process.

On its own, without using skills from training (i.e. user interaction)technology is not a panacea. When user procedures for Right to Work combine with technology. It is a game changer.

At uComply, to help employers get that vital statutory excuse, we have created a fusion between technology and process.

Our unique product uAuthenticate ensures employers follow the guidance in a consistent manner and records all the results securely. At the same time, it checks document authenticity and supports consent based document capture (i.e. GDPR compliant).

We offer training which incorporates facial recognition, document inspection techniques and how to ensure that you follow the Home Office Right to Work guidance process.

The post Europe under threat from illegal documents? appeared first on uComply.