Immigration Compliance

Immigration Compliance Immigration Compliance specialists
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As experts in the immigration compliance field we am able to advise, educate and support businesses to conduct right to work/right to rent checks and ensure a statutory defence against any Home Office civil penalty. We can also offer bespoke support following Immigration Enforcement visits in order to reduce or redact any potential penalties. We're passionate about empowering business owners with

awareness, knowledge and confidence surrounding immigration policies, enforcement activity and the civil penalty process.

Think Right to Work is just a HR issue? Think again. The October 2026 changes could have implications across a much wide...
03/09/2026

Think Right to Work is just a HR issue? Think again.

The October 2026 changes could have implications across a much wider range of working arrangements.

👉 Swipe through to see the 5 areas we think businesses should be looking at now.

What happens when the Home Office issues a Civil Penalty? Your first instinct might be: "We need to pay this." Stop. Bef...
01/09/2026

What happens when the Home Office issues a Civil Penalty?

Your first instinct might be: "We need to pay this."

Stop.

Before accepting the penalty, the notice should be carefully reviewed.

Does the Civil Penalty Notice actually identify the specific statutory basis on which the Home Office says the employer is liable?

One of the first questions to ask is; has the Home Office issued a legally valid penalty, identifying the specific statutory basis on which they say the employer is liable?

A proper review should consider:
• The statutory basis of liability
• The Right to Work check
• The evidence
• The statutory excuse
• The calculation of the penalty
• The Home Office's compliance with the statutory scheme

A Civil Penalty Notice is a serious matter. But serious doesn't mean unchallengeable.

If you've received a Civil Penalty Notice and need advice on your options, contact our specialist team: [email protected]

"They're self-employed. So we don't need to check their Right to Work... right?" Wrong. This is one of the assumptions U...
27/08/2026

"They're self-employed. So we don't need to check their Right to Work... right?"

Wrong.

This is one of the assumptions UK businesses need to revisit before 1 October 2026. The new Right to Work rules expand the focus beyond the traditional employee/employer relationship.

From October 2026, businesses need to look at the people working for them, through them and on their behalf.

If your business uses:
• Self-employed workers
• Contractors
• Subcontractors
• Agency workers
• Casual labour
• Gig economy workers
• Individuals working through platforms .. you need to understand where the Right to Work responsibility sits.

Now is a good time to review your contractual arrangements.

A major decision for employers facing illegal working penalties...In Akbars Restaurant (Middlesbrough) Limited v Secreta...
25/08/2026

A major decision for employers facing illegal working penalties...

In Akbars Restaurant (Middlesbrough) Limited v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2026] UKSC 26, the Supreme Court held that a civil penalty notice under section 15 of the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006 must tell the employer which specific statutory ground of liability the Home Office is relying on.

Simply listing the possible grounds isn't enough.

If you've received a Civil Penalty Notice, check the wording carefully before paying it. The notice itself could be an important part of your challenge or a big deciding factor on whether to object, appeal, rely on a statutory excuse or challenge the penalty.

When employers see six-figure illegal working penalties, the immediate focus is usually the financial exposure. But the ...
23/07/2026

When employers see six-figure illegal working penalties, the immediate focus is usually the financial exposure. But the bigger commercial risk is often public naming.

The Home Office publications identify businesses across hospitality, retail, manufacturing, and vehicle services that have received substantial civil penalties.

For many businesses, the reputational fallout can outlast the financial penalty itself. For example customer, banking relationships, commercial partnerships, sponsor licence scrutiny and recruitment difficulties.

What’s often overlooked is that these published penalties generally appear after objection and appeal rights have been exhausted.

By that stage, legal options are significantly narrower.

Early legal advice matters most before positions become entrenched.

The Government's proposed expansion of the illegal working regime refers to individuals who "perform personally work or ...
22/07/2026

The Government's proposed expansion of the illegal working regime refers to individuals who "perform personally work or service."

In simple terms, they are looking beyond job titles, contract labels and whether someone is labelled as self-employed.

The real question is, is that individual expected to personally carry out the work?

If someone must attend personally, follow your instructions and work as part of your wider operation, the arrangement may attract much greater scrutiny under the expanded regime.

Businesses should focus less on the contractual label and more on how the working relationship operates in practice.

Read our latest article to see the proposed changes, who may be impacted and what businesses should be thinking about ahead of October 2026: https://www.immigration-compliance.co.uk/articles/https/wwwimmigration-compliancecouk/blog-page-url/righttoworkexpansion

One interesting feature in the latest Home Office civil penalties data is the repeated appearance of penalties clustered...
21/07/2026

One interesting feature in the latest Home Office civil penalties data is the repeated appearance of penalties clustered around £120,000 and £135,000.

That is unlikely to be coincidence. These figures often indicate multiple workers identified during a single enforcement action.

For employers, this highlights a major practical issue of compliance failures being rarely isolated.

Where one deficient right to work process exists, investigators frequently identify wider systemic issues, including:
• Inconsistent records
• Missing follow-up checks
• Incomplete onboarding
• Undocumented recruitment pathways

In enforcement visits, patterns matter. A single mistake may be manageable, however, repeated procedural weaknesses can easily escalate into six-figure penalties.

Many raids are not random. They are often the result of intelligence built up over months, or even years, from sources s...
16/07/2026

Many raids are not random.

They are often the result of intelligence built up over months, or even years, from sources such as:

• Tip-offs from the public
• Reports from former employees
• Data from other government departments
• Intelligence from previous investigations

Compliance issues rarely appear overnight. More often, they accumulate quietly until enforcement agencies have enough information to act.

The best time to address compliance risks is long before a knock at the door.

With the expanded Right to Work regime expected to come into force on 1 October 2026, now is the time to prepare. 1. Rev...
14/07/2026

With the expanded Right to Work regime expected to come into force on 1 October 2026, now is the time to prepare.

1. Review your existing Right to Work process
Make sure your current employee checks are robust before expanding your focus

2. Map your workforce
Identify where you rely on subcontractors, agency workers, self-employed individuals or platform-based labour.

3. Review your supply chain
Can you clearly demonstrate who is responsible for Right to Work checks, and do you have evidence to support it?

The businesses that prepare early will be in a much stronger position than those waiting until the new requirements arrive. Compliance is about understanding how your workforce operates and ensuring your processes keep pace.

Read our latest article to see the proposed changes and who may be impacted: https://www.immigration-compliance.co.uk/articles/https/wwwimmigration-compliancecouk/blog-page-url/righttoworkexpansion

Hiring pressures are no excuse for getting right-to-work checks wrong.Five UK care providers have been hit with more tha...
09/07/2026

Hiring pressures are no excuse for getting right-to-work checks wrong.

Five UK care providers have been hit with more than £200,000 in civil penalties for illegal working breaches, highlighting the importance of robust right-to-work compliance.

With ongoing recruitment pressures across the care sector, it's understandable that employers are under strain. However, compliance with right-to-work obligations must remain a priority.

This serves as an important reminder to:
• Carry out regular right-to-work checks
• Keep accurate records securely stored
• Monitor visa expiry dates and any restrictions on working hours
• Ensure managers and HR teams are trained on the latest Home Office guidance

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01392 696121

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