IMMIGRATION Citation, commencement and interpretation 1 This order may be cited as the Immigration (Restrictions on Employment) Order 2007 and shall come into force on 29 February 2008. 2 In this order— “ the 2006 Act ” means the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006; and “ document ” means an original document. “ employee ”, except in articles 4(3) and 4B(3), includes a reference to a prospective employee; “ Home Office Employer Checking Service ” means the enquiry and advice service for employers operated by the Home Office; “ Home Office online right to work checking service ” means the electronic system allowing employers to check whether a person is allowed to work in the United Kingdom and, if so, the nature of any restrictions on that person’s right to do so; “ identity document validation technology ” means technology operated by a person for the purpose of verifying the identity of another person (“the subject”), whereby a digital copy of a physical document relating to the subject is produced by or in relation to the subject for verification of— the document’s validity, and whether the subject is the rightful holder of the document; “ IDVT identity check ” means the response generated by an IDVT identity service provider, using identity document validation technology, when undertaking identity verification with respect to a person; “ IDVT identity service provider ” means a person that provides identity verification services using identity document validation technology; “online right to work check” means the response generated by the Home Office online right to work checking service in relation to a person. “ relevant IDVT document ” means a document falling within the description in paragraph 1 or 4B of list A of the Schedule and which has not expired; Excuse from paying civil penalty 3 1 Subject to article 5, an employer is excused from paying a penalty under section 15 of the 2006 Act if — a the employee ... produces to the employer any of the documents or combinations of documents described in list A in the Schedule to this Order; and b the employer complies with the requirements set out in article 6 of this order. 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3A 1 An employer is excused from paying a penalty under section 15 of the 2006 Act if the employer— a obtains from an IDVT identity service provider an IDVT identity check which shows that there exists in relation to the employee a relevant IDVT document, b receives from the IDVT identity service provider a clear copy of the IDVT identity check, and the document checked, in a format which cannot be subsequently altered, c reasonably believes that the IDVT identity service provider has complied with the requirements set out in article 6A(1), and d complies with the requirements set out in article 6A(2). 2 This article is subject to article 5A. 4 1 To the extent provided for by paragraphs (2) and (3) an employer is excused from paying a penalty under section 15 of the 2006 Act if— a the employee ... produces to the employer any of the documents or combination of documents described in part 1 of list B in the Schedule to this Order; and b the employer complies with the requirements set out in article 6 of this Order. 2 Subject to article 5 an employer will be excused under this article from paying a penalty under section 15 of the 2006 Act for the period for which a document produced under paragraph (1)(a) provides that the employment is permitted. 3 If, on the date on which the period specified in paragraph (2) expires, the employer is reasonably satisfied that the employee has an outstanding application to vary his leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom or the employee has an appeal or administrative review pending against a decision on that application, the employer will be excused from paying that penalty for a further period beginning with the date on which the period specified in paragraph (2) expires and ending— a after 28 days, or b if earlier, on the date on which the Secretary of State gives the employer written notice that the employee does not have the right to undertake the employment in question. 4A 1 To the extent provided for by paragraph (2) an employer is excused from paying a penalty under section 15 of the 2006 Act if— a either— i the employee ... produces to the employer a document described in paragraph 1A, 1AA, 1B or 2 of part 2 of list B in the Schedule to this Order and the employer obtains a Positive Verification Notice issued by the Home Office Employer Checking Service which indicates that the person named in it is allowed to stay in the United Kingdom and is allowed to do the work in question; or ii the employer obtains a Positive Verification Notice issued by the Home Office Employer Checking Service which indicates that the person named in it is allowed to stay in the United Kingdom and is allowed to do the work in question; and b the employer complies with the requirements set out in article 6 of this Order. 2 Subject to article 5 an employer will be excused under this article from paying a penalty under section 15 of the 2006 Act for a period of six months, beginning with the date of the Positive Verification Notice obtained under paragraph (1)(a). Excusal from paying civil penalty: Home Office online right to work checking service 4B 1 To the extent provided for by paragraphs (2) and (3), an employer is excused from paying a penalty under section 15 of the 2006 Act if— a the employer uses the Home Office online right to work checking service in respect of an employee; b the online right to work check confirms that the employee named in it is allowed to work in the United Kingdom and is allowed to do the work in question; c the employer has satisfied himself that any photograph on the online right to work check is of the employee; d the employer retains a clear copy of the online right to work check for a period of not less than two years after the employment has come to an end; and e the employer complies, if applicable, with the requirement in article 6(2). 2 Subject to article 5, an employer is excused under this article from paying a penalty under section 15 of the 2006 Act— a where the online right to work check confirms that the employee has leave to enter or remain on the date that the online right to work check is conducted, for the period for which the online right to work check confirms that the employee named in it is permitted to carry out the work in question; b where the online right to work check confirms that the employee has a right to work on the date of the check by virtue of a pending application, administrative review or appeal, for six months beginning with the date of the check. 3 If, on the date on which the period specified in paragraph (2)(a) expires, the employer is reasonably satisfied that the employee has an outstanding application to vary his leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom or the employee has an appeal or administrative review pending against a decision on that application, the employer will be excused from paying that penalty for a further period beginning with the date on which the period specified in paragraph (2)(a) expires and ending— a after 28 days, or b if earlier, on the date on which the Secretary of State gives the employer written notice that the employee does not have the right to undertake the employment in question. 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 An employer is excused from paying a penalty under section 15 of the 2006 Act by virtue of article 3(1) , article 4(2) , article 4A(2) or article 4B(2) only if the employee produces the relevant documents to the employer , or the employer obtains an online right to work check which confirms that the employee named in it is allowed to work in the United Kingdom and is allowed to do the work in question, prior to the commencement of employment . 5A An employer is excused from paying a penalty under section 15 of the 2006 Act by virtue of article 3A(1) only if the requirements of article 3A(1) are satisfied before the commencement of employment (other than the requirement in paragraph (1)(d) in so far as it relates to article 6A(2)(b)). 6 1 The requirements in relation to any documents or combinations of documents produced by an employee pursuant to article 3, 4 or 4A of this order are that— a the employer takes all reasonable steps to check the validity of the document and retains a record of the date on which any check was made ; b the clear copy or copies are retained securely by the employer for a period of not less than two years after the employment has come to an end; c if a document contains a photograph, the employer has satisfied himself that the photograph is of the ... employee; d if a document contains a date of birth, the employer has satisfied himself that the date of birth is consistent with the appearance of the ... employee; e the employer takes all other reasonable steps to check that the ... employee is the rightful owner of the document; f if the document is not a passport ... the employer retains a clear copy of whole of the document in a format which cannot be subsequently altered; ... g if the document is a passport ..., the employer retains a clear copy of the following pages of that document in a format which cannot be subsequently altered— i . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii any page containing the holder’s personal details including nationality; iii any page containing the holder’s photograph; iv any page containing the holder’s signature; v any page containing the date of expiry; and vi any page containing information indicating the holder has an entitlement to enter or remain in the UK and undertake the work in question; and h . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 A further requirement, if the employee ... is a student who has permission to work for a limited number of hours per week during term time whilst studying in the United Kingdom, is that the employer must obtain and retain details of the term and vacation dates of the course that the employee ... is undertaking. 6A 1 The requirements mentioned in article 3A(1)(c) are, in relation to a relevant IDVT document produced for the purposes of an IDVT identity check in pursuance of article 3A(1)(a), that— a the IDVT identity service provider takes all reasonable steps to check the validity of the document; b the IDVT identity service provider records in a format that cannot be subsequently altered the date on which the check was carried out; c the IDVT identity service provider is satisfied that the photograph is of the employee; d the IDVT identity service provider is satisfied that the date of birth is consistent with the appearance of the employee; e the IDVT identity service provider takes all reasonable steps to verify that the employee is the rightful holder of the document; f where the document is a passport which is not in the form of a card, the IDVT identity service provider retains a clear copy of the following pages of that document in a format which cannot be subsequently altered— i any page containing the holder’s personal details including nationality; ii any page containing the holder’s photograph; iii any page containing the date of expiry; g where the document is a travel document in the form of a card, the IDVT identity service provider retains a clear copy of the whole of that document in a format which cannot be subsequently altered. 2 The requirements mentioned in article 3A(1)(d) are that— a the employer is satisfied that the photograph of the individual contained in the information received by the employer in accordance with article 3A(1)(b) is of the employee; b the employer retains a clear copy of the IDVT identity check, and the document checked, for a period of not less than two years after the employment has come to an end. 7 Nothing in this Order permits employers to retain documents produced by an employee or the Home Office for the purposes of article 3, 4, 4A or 4B for any period longer than is necessary for the purposes of ensuring compliance with article 6. Objections 8 The manner prescribed in which the notice of objection must be given is that it must contain— a the reference number of the notice given under section 15(2) of the 2006 Act; b the name and contact address of the employer; c the name and contact address of the employee in respect of whom the penalty was issued; d the full grounds of objection; e where the employer requests permission to pay by instalments, full details of the employer’s ability to pay the penalty; f confirmation and details of any appeal made by the employer to a County Court or Sheriff Court on the basis that the employer is not liable to the penalty, he is excused payment by virtue of section 15(3) of the 2006 Act, or that the amount of the penalty is too high; and g any documents to be relied upon in support of the objection. 9 The prescribed period within which a notice of objection must be given for the purposes of section 16(3)(d) of the 2006 Act is 28 days, beginning with the date specified in the penalty notice as the date upon which it is given. 10 The period prescribed for the purposes of section 16(5)(b) of the 2006 Act within which the Secretary of State must inform the objector of his decision is 28 days, beginning with the date on which the notice of objection was given to the Secretary of State. Code of practice: civil penalties 11 The revised code of practice entitled “Code of practice on preventing illegal working: Right to Work Scheme for employers”, issued by the Secretary of State on 23rd January 2024 under section 19(1) and (3) of the 2006 Act and laid in draft before Parliament on 15th November 2023, comes into force on 13th February 2024. Code of practice: discrimination 12 The revised code of practice entitled “Code of practice for employers: Avoiding unlawful discrimination while preventing illegal working”, issued by the Secretary of State under section 23(1) and (5) of the 2006 Act and laid in draft before Parliament on 2nd March 2022, comes into force on 6th April 2022. Liam Byrne Minister of State Home Office 15th November 2007