Employment agencies and proof of ID

liney

onlyforboards wrote: »

I don't have a passport (or the need for one for travel) or original birth certificate either and am racing for time/money to get a passport for a new employer.
It is crazy when there are no legal requirements to have these documents in daily life.

There is no legal requirement for the agency to check, however if they do not check everyone, regardless of where they say they were born, at the same point they are liable for discrimination for which compensation is unlimited. If they are found to be employing a worker illegally then they are fined up to £10k per person. No employer in their right mind will leave themselves open to these fines.

The proceedure the agency have set up is in no way discriminatory, and they are perfectly within their rights to only register people who can provide documents listed by the home office. If you are British, then a passport OR full birth certificate plus documented NI is what the home office state you need to provide.

liney

piggeh wrote: »

Why the need for a FULL birth certificate though, rather than the short one? Both registered by the same body, only difference seems to be the full one includes your parents occupations and address at the time.

My agency accepted the short certificate then 4 months later came back asking for a full birth certificate (which I had fortunately ordered a month before after losing my short birth certificate )

They need a full birth certificate because the home office specifically states a short certificate is not acceptable.

sexki11en

Ebany wrote: »

Because thats what the Home Office insists they get in order to show they have a defence if it turns out you do not have the right to work in this country. Saying 'Well I presumed the other employers did it' doesn't get them out of a £5000-£10000 fine.

A CRB check has nothing to do with whether you have the right to work in this country.

Not only the fines now, if we are found to be employing illegals and have no proof we checked their ID, it can also now mean a prison sentence.

Sorry sunshine, but i'm not going to prison because you won't provide what the law states you should to prove you have the right to work.

Direct employers should also carry out these checks btw, it's just that most don't bother.

SK x

kazzieg

I have just been and registered with an agency today. Had to take my marriage certificate aswell as my birth certificate as it is in my maiden name.

book12

By the way, under existing industry regulations, providing ID to employment agencies is a must according to the 'Employment Agencies Act'.

el_gringo_3

It's ridiculous, but its the law. I had to have a letter from the home office after my passport expired, as it was about a 3 1/2 month gap between applying for a replacement birth certificate from my counry of birth, and without this I couldn't get a new passport. They wouldn't even accept my drivers licence showing I was born in an E.U country. I couldn't even obtain the exemption letter without writing to my M.P, and this was all in the period between the law being announced and it coming into place!

CCFC_80

Out of interest are recruitment agency staff trained to spot fake passports when people register as to what to look for ??? A short while ago one local agency in my area was fined several thousand pounds due to hiring some illegal workers who had fake passports after they said that checks had been done etc. Needless to say they lost the contract and the recruitment was taken over by another agency.

olly300

andy46 wrote: »

Out of interest are recruitment agency staff trained to spot fake passports when people register as to what to look for ??? A short while ago one local agency in my area was fined several thousand pounds due to hiring some illegal workers who had fake passports after they said that checks had been done etc. Needless to say they lost the contract and the recruitment was taken over by another agency.

According to what I've seen they are not however there is a helpline (which doesn't work properly) where you can get advice on how to spot a fake passport. However some passports are better fakes than others.

wontfallforit

andy46 wrote: »

Out of interest are recruitment agency staff trained to spot fake passports when people register as to what to look for ??? A short while ago one local agency in my area was fined several thousand pounds due to hiring some illegal workers who had fake passports after they said that checks had been done etc. Needless to say they lost the contract and the recruitment was taken over by another agency.

That seems slightly unfair. I understand that agencies and other employers must be vigilant when it comes to ascertaining immigration status but, really, how far do you have to go?

Considering that more than 25 different EU nationalities are able to work in the UK without restriction, how are agency staff supposed to establish whether or not a Spanish, Italian, French, etc. passport is genuine? What average person knows exactly what a Romanian passport is supposed to look like? Obviously embassies can be contacted to help verify passports, but what a task!

Unless the passport looks obviously fake (peeling at the edges, no photo likeness, etc.), I don't think agency staff and other employers should be liable. There seems little punishment for the individuals, rather an emphasis upon passing on hefty fines to employers.

CCFC_80

wontfallforit wrote: »

That seems slightly unfair. I understand that agencies and other employers must be vigilant when it comes to ascertaining immigration status but, really, how far do you have to go?

Considering that more than 25 different EU nationalities are able to work in the UK without restriction, how are agency staff supposed to establish whether or not a Spanish, Italian, French, etc. passport is genuine? What average person knows exactly what a Romanian passport is supposed to look like? Obviously embassies can be contacted to help verify passports, but what a task!

Unless the passport looks obviously fake (peeling at the edges, no photo likeness, etc.), I don't think agency staff and other employers should be liable. There seems little punishment for the individuals, rather an emphasis upon passing on hefty fines to employers.

If they cannot tell, then what is the point in going through this procedure when registering with agencies !!. Workers are expected to have legal documents which includes legal passports. If the worker does not have the correct documents then the agency will get fined huge amountsof money