Checks for staff employed from 27 January 1997 to 30 April 2004

This page explains the law on preventing illegal working in relation to staff employed from 27 January 1997 to 30 April 2004, including details of employers' responsibilities to check the entitlement to work in the United Kingdom of their prospective employees.

Section 8 of the Asylum and Immigration Act 1996 came into force on 27 January 1997 and was repealed on 29 February 2008.

The criminal offence provided by the 1996 Act

Under the 1996 Act, it was a criminal offence to employ a person aged 16 or over who is subject to immigration control and who has no permission to work in the United Kingdom, or who works for you in breach of their conditions of stay in the United Kingdom.

The defence against conviction provided by the 1996 Act

Whilst the 1996 Act enabled employers to be prosecuted for employing illegal migrant workers, it also allowed employers to establish a statutory defence against conviction for doing so. Employers could establish the statutory defence by carrying out specific checks on the original documents of prospective employees. The documents that should have been checked for staff employed from 27 January 1997 to 30 April 2004 were described in the comprehensive guidance booklet published by the Home Office in December 1996.

Penalties for employing illegal migrant workers

If you employed an illegal migrant worker from 27 January 1997 to 30 April 2004 and did not establish a statutory defence you could still be prosecuted and fined up to £5,000 per illegal worker in a Magistrates' Court (or Sheriff Court in Scotland).