What changed on 13 February 2024
The government increased civil penalties under the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006 with effect from 13 February 2024. First-offence maximum penalties rose from £15,000 to £45,000 per worker. Repeat-offence penalties rose from £20,000 to £60,000 per worker. These are maximums — the actual penalty depends on mitigating factors — but uncooperative employers and those with no audit trail tend to receive the maximum.
How Home Office enforcement visits work
Enforcement visits are conducted by Home Office Immigration Enforcement teams. They are unannounced — there is no warning that an officer is attending. The officer will request your Right-to-Work records for all workers present and may request records for former workers. They will check whether checks were conducted before employment started and whether re-checks have been done on time for workers with time-limited leave.
What triggers a visit
Visits may be triggered by intelligence, such as tip-offs from the public, former employees, or competitor businesses; by sector-focused enforcement priorities; or by follow-up visits after a previous breach. You cannot predict a visit, and you cannot delay cooperation.
The statutory excuse defence
An employer can escape or reduce a civil penalty by demonstrating the 'statutory excuse' — that they conducted a Right-to-Work check before the worker started, checked the correct documents from the Home Office list, and kept a copy or record. For workers with time-limited leave (List B), the excuse only applies if re-checks were also done on time. A timestamped audit trail is the strongest evidence you can present.
Mitigating factors that reduce penalties
If an employer cooperates with the investigation, has a written compliance policy, demonstrates a genuine attempt to comply (such as keeping records and using the Online Check Service), and has no previous breaches — the penalty may be reduced below the maximum. An employer with no records and a history of breaches will typically receive the maximum.