It has been reported that the Attorney General Baroness Scotland is to be fined £5,000 for failing to keep copies of the documents shown by her housekeeper to prove her eligibility to legally work in the UK.

Although the Attorney General is allegedly comparing this offence to not paying the congestion charge, it is important to remember that this can not be considered a satisfactory comparison. As Nannytax reported last week when the story first broke, according to the Asylum and Immigration Act 2006 all employers are legally required to make basic checks on every person they intend to employ in order to establish that they have a right to work in the UK and are here legally. Failing to do so is a criminal offence; by contrast not paying the congestion charge is a civil offence. Therefore, Nannytax would certainly not advise our clients to treat it the same!

The fact that it was the Attorney General herself who helped push the Asylum and Immigration Act 2006 through Parliament suggests that she should have a complete understanding of how it works. She must also be aware of the disparity between a criminal and a civil offence.

Nannytax provide all clients with an Illegal worker’s checklist, and it is recommended that the employer ticks all the documents they have seen, takes photocopies copies and keeps these together in a safe place. Both the checklist and the copies may be used to help the employer establish a statutory excuse if the documents later turn out to be fraudulent or the worker is proven not to have the right to work in the UK.