Provisions the documents cite: s.15 (civil penalty for employing a person subject to immigration control; statutory excuse), s.21 (offence)
What it requires
s.15 — it is contrary to the section to employ an adult subject to immigration control who has not been granted leave to enter or remain, or whose leave is invalid, has ceased to have effect or is subject to a condition preventing the employment. The Secretary of State may give the employer a notice requiring a penalty up to the prescribed maximum. The employer is excused if it shows it complied with the prescribed requirements — the Immigration (Restrictions on Employment) Order 2007 — but the excuse does not apply to an employer who knew at any time during the employment that it was contrary to the section. A penalty notice gives at least 28 days to pay and explains how to object or appeal. s.21 — a person commits an offence by employing another knowing, or having reasonable cause to believe, that the employee is disqualified from employment by their immigration status; on indictment the penalty is imprisonment of up to five years, a fine or both. The prescribed maximum penalty is set by order and was not read. WATCH — from 1 October 2026 (the in-force date legislation.gov.uk lists) the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025, s.48, inserts s.14A, applying ss.15–24 to a person engaging an individual under a worker's contract, a person engaging an individual sub-contractor, and online matching services, and s.15A, under which a person contracted to provide or arrange work or services is treated for s.15 as employing any individual who personally provides it — anywhere in a chain of contracts, even with no contract with that individual and without knowing they are doing the work. From that date the civil penalty reaches labour supplied through sub-contract chains.
The instrument itself: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2006/13. The summary above is our plain-English reading, not the text of the instrument — always work from the source.
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The 4 documents that cite it
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