Employers should note that, while the rules for employing Bulgarians and Romanians have relaxed since January 1, other migrant document checks and penalties have been tightened.
As of the first of this month, work restrictions on Bulgarian and Romanian migrants were lifted in line with workers from the rest of the European Union, and they are also entitled to claim the same benefits and NHS access as other EU citizens.
However, the Government was so concerned about a potential influx of new migrants that it drew up emergency plans, meaning that the Bulgarians and Romanians were not allowed to join the labour market until now, even though their countries joined the EU in 2007.
As a further safeguard against problems, the Government introduced an Immigration Bill into Parliament in October, with the aim of preventing illegal migrants from accessing and abusing the UK’s labour market.
Secondary legislation accompanying the Bill will affect businesses employing migrant workers, particularly those sponsoring employees under the points based system.
According to the Government, the legislation will simplify the checks employers have to make on migrant workers’ right to work in the UK, as it will reduce the range of documents they are required to check to confirm employees’ visa status and will also remove the need for them to check the right to work status annually.
The legislation will also extend the period during which transferee employers have to carry out right to work checks then there is a TUPE transfer from 28 to 60 days.
The change is also linked to the rollout of biometric residence permits containing digital data such as fingerprints, which are less open to forgery. The Bill will also simplify the way in which civil penalties are calculated for businesses employing illegal workers.