Need advice... considering employing someone not 100% legally allowed to work in UK (I think).....

[totallyanonymous]

Sorry, name changed for obvious reasons, wondering if anyone can shed light. Am considering employing someone who isn't (I think) entitled to work in the UK yet... the person in question is brazilian, but with spanish citizenship (through ancestry) and awaiting her passport, which is currently stuck in the quagmire of spanish bureaucracy. Her paperwork is all clear re: spanish passport, she is not awaiting any confirmation of anything, just the actual issuing of the booklet itself. Meanwhile, she is in the UK legally, having travelled from Spain with her spanish id card. Would love to employ her on cash in hand basis until her paperwork is sorted out, for childcare, then make her official when we can. Apart from the obvious problem of paying cash in hand, we have employed a nanny previously, paid her tax and NI etc, and so I'm worried that the fact that we are no longer doing so will draw attention to us in some way. Am I being paranoid? Anyone have any idea of penalties if she or we are found out? Am I worrying for nothing? Sorry this is so long, any feed back would be great, thanks so much.....

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motherfunk, she hasn't got her passport yet, she is in this country on her id card only. Do you think she could get a NI number without the actual passport? Not at all sure about the bank account issue....
(thanks for the reply... )

You need to inspect any potential employees original passport and check their nationality/ visa status. Some ancestry cases arent granted citizenship, only long term visas, and I dont know whether you could transfer ancestry granted for living in Spain to living in the UK. You can check the meanings of all visa endorsements through the IND website, or ring the employers helpline for advice.

Im suprised she managed to travel to the UK with just a Spanish ID card. Was she issued with an entry clearance at the UK airport? Does she have a certificate of nationality?

Legally you'd be in big trouble. If you employ someone with even the slighest suspicion they may not be able to work (and it turns out they can't) you'd be liable for prosecution. When I used to work in a role checking right to work the fine was £5k, it may be more now. Don't do it!!

There's an ad on our local radio at the minute about employing someone who's not entitled to work in the UK. You can be fined £10,000 IIRR.

She wouldnt get a full NINO until she had her passport. You need to contact the jobcentre and they arrange an interview where all documentation is checked. There's a whole list of things they need to check IIRC

thank you everyone, you have just confirmed what i suspected.... i shouldn't do it, should i....

We get this a lot in work - I have a pile of folders on my desk of iffy looking applicants.

I'd get advice from a solicitor if you possilby can or consider employing someone else.

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Not until she's got her passport back and you can check it. Where exactly is it? Is it in the UK or abroad?

Agree Motherfunk, I would be amazed if she travelled just on an ID card. I would have thought that its more likely that she has her passport but doesnt want to show you it because she hasnt got full right to work. But then I'm just suspicious of these things through the job I used to do, where I dealt with hundreds of people trying to work here ilegally!

her passport hasn't been issued yet by the spanish authorities. she has done all the paperwork, it has been approved etc. she was living and working in spain (legally) until a few months ago. once she has her passport, it will all be clear, she will be able to work in UK, we could pay tax and ni etc. TBH, if I thought her passport would be issued within a few months, then I might wing it until then, but she has been v straightforward with us, and said she was originally told january, then may, and now july, which she says is rubbish, because nothing gets done in spain in july as everyone is on vacaciones.....

will have to look for someone else then, which is a shame as she is so lovely ...

Is it the Spanish authorities actually in Spain, or the Spanish consulate in the UK dealing with the application?

And what is she applying for? Did she travel here on her Brazilian passport with a tourist visa perhaps?

I think Italians can travel on their national ID cards - upto a few years ago, I could have used my photo driving licence on an internal flight within the UK in lieu of a passport. Probably still can.

In work when I copy passports I tend to copy anything with a stamp on it plus the photopage since embassies can stamp any old page they feel like doing. A fair few are written in French as well (we gets lots of applicants from former French colonies, not all have rights to even be here let alone work).

(actually, maybe she got bsck in the country on her brazilian passport, but with no right to work, could be my mistake)

Won't the Spanish bit give her the right to work though?

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it is a childcare position, within our family. not working for a company or anything. Any worse than paying someone cash in hand to do some cleaning for you? Except that it is rather a lot more cash?

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she came by recommendation from a friend of ours, who knows the family she worked for previously. sorry, maybe the whole coming in on her spanish id card is a mistake, maybe it was her brazilian passport (we just met her a few nights ago for an hour or so, clicked straight away which is why i would love to take her on, but can't pretend to remember exactly everything that was said....). she has plenty of references. haven't chased any of them up yet.

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Really TA, dont do it. The Home Office turns round applications for visa renewals etc in around 13weeks (most of the time!) If it is a simple case of the Spanish authorities issuing her a passport with her alredy having been granted citizenship it would take weeks, not months.

Can you ask her what documentation she showed port authorities? Without a passport I thik she would have had to have an entry interview, and they would have given her an entry letter, with her legal status on it.

spanish authorities in spain issuing her passport, she is an older woman, her 2 sons studying in spain in university, keeping an eye on her passport application on her behalf.
i don't know, perhaps i am too trusting, but she sat down and said, before we go any further, you need to know what my situation is..... etc etc. she could have said "oh, i'll have my passport in march", let us hire her and then still no passport x months later.
previous positions she held for 3 and 5 years.

you are all right. i know you are. and i won't do it.
i knew it, i was just hoping someone might say something different....
thank you all, i knew MN would tell me what i needed (but maybe didn't want?!) to hear...!