United Kingdom (25 February, 2011) – PeopleChecking, a service dedicated to offering employee background checks and employment screening services, comment on the rise of stolen passports which may be used for illegal immigrants to secure employment in the UK.
The new Coalition government have announced plans to limit the number of migrant workers in the UK; therefore, it is ultimately the responsibility of an employer to ensure that they are hiring employees that have the legal right to work in the UK. If they do not take the necessary measures to ensure they abide by the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act (2006), they will be subject to a £10,000 on-the-spot civil penalty and could possibly face up to two years in prison and/or an unlimited fine.
Identify theft is becoming a common occurrence across the world, and passports can ultimately be traded or bought on the black market by immigrants hoping to start a new life in a new country. The Identity Passport Service has reportedly replaced 2.2million UK passports since 2002, while the majority of these passports are most likely genuine losses there is a chance that a person’s identity may have been stolen.
Mathew Armstrong, Head of Business Development at People Checking, commented: “It is vital that Right to Work checks are processed when hiring an employee to ensure they are legally allowed to work in this country. Many people hoping to start a life in another country purchase stolen or lost passports to secure employment in the UK. Here at PeopleChecking we can provide Right to Work checks, passport checks, identity checks and education verification. A company should also ensure an employee has confirmed that they have applied for workers registration. We encourage organisations to hire our services to identify if an employee is a legally allowed to work in the UK, as without a Right to Work checks an employer may receive a hefty fine and face imprisonment.”
For more information on PeopleChecking and their Right to Work checks, visit their website at http://www.peoplechecking.com/ or telephone 0800 035 0545.
About PeopleChecking:
NorthgateArinso PeopleChecking is the leading provider of candidate online individual background checks and employment solutions in the UK. PeopleChecking provide a service enabling organisations to confirm that recruits (and existing employees) are who they say they are, have the experience and qualifications they claim to have and are eligible to work in this country.
Contact:
Mathew Armstrong
NorthgateArinso PeopleChecking,
Thorpe Park
Thorpe Road
Peterborough
PE3 7JT
Tel: 0800 035 0545
Fax: 01733 312 347
Email: hrsolutions@northgatearinso.com