Why Challenge a Civil Penalty?
If you consider that you are not liable to the imposition of a civil penalty, you believe that you have a statutory excuse, or believe that the imposed penalty is too high, you should challenge the civil penalty. This can be done at the objection stage without losing the opportunity to benefit from the 30% reduction under the ‘faster payment’ scheme, which may still be applied by the Home Office following your objection.
There can also be further impacts on the business:
Continued Enforcement Activity.
Information regarding a breach of immigration law can be passed to other government departments. This can result in recurring immigration visits and further intrusion from HMRC, and other government departments. Furthermore, if an employer can prove that they are not liable to a civil penalty this helps to build a picture of a compliant business.
Financial Impact.
The financial implications go further than just the civil penalty fine. The disruption to business, negative press and potential revocation or suspension of the premises licence can all add to the significant impact resulting from an imposed civil penalty. Furthermore, a second offence will increase any imposed fine by 25%.
Criminal Proceedings.
Since 2016, if the Home Office can prove that you had ‘reasonable cause to believe’ that an employee was disqualified from employment by reason of their immigration status they may bring criminal charges against you.