They DO NOT need to hold a copy of your passport if you are opted out.

[The Agents View]

The problem is with agencies that they aren't willing to accept any of the alternative documents and always insist on the passport. Agents I've come across are generally to thick to be able to read and understand the relevant legislation.

Oooh you sound like the kind of contractor I really want on my books.

If the agents are ALL too thick (which is afterall, what you said) then I assume that you work direct for your clients, and that this issue never comes up. In which case, why on earth are you even involved in the conversation?

You should know, that refusal to compromise or accept alternatives (in life, not just the agency world) is directly linked to the attitude of the individuals involved. Yours stinks, so I'm not surprised that people refuse to accept other forms of identification from you.

[Peoplesoft bloke]

I guess I've had a lot more to do with the UK border agency than most people here but comments like this really make me laugh.

Let us get something perfectly clear: It is perfectly legitimate to take a verbatim copy of a workers passport as proof of their right to live and work in the UK. And there is legislation that specifically requires an employer does this.

.

What legislation? - quote from it please.
What does it say to do if a worker has no passport?

[PrinceNamor]

Oooh you sound like the kind of contractor I really want on my books.

If the agents are ALL too thick (which is afterall, what you said) then I assume that you work direct for your clients, and that this issue never comes up. In which case, why on earth are you even involved in the conversation?

You should know, that refusal to compromise or accept alternatives (in life, not just the agency world) is directly linked to the attitude of the individuals involved. Yours stinks, so I'm not surprised that people refuse to accept other forms of identification from you.

And you sound like the typical oily wide boy agent I've had to deal with in the past. If my attitude stinks I wonder why I have plenty of previous clients willing to offer me repeat business?

FOAD you big bag of tulipe.

[The Agents View]

And you sound like the typical oily wide boy agent I've had to deal with in the past. If my attitude stinks I wonder why I have plenty of previous clients willing to offer me repeat business?

FOAD you big bag of tulipe.

Fortunately, you couldn't be more wrong.

And if you have so many direct clients offering you repeat business, then why on earth are you even involved with this conversation? With your massive list of clients, you have never had the issue of agencies checking your eligibility.

As for the final line - I rest my case.

[nomadd]

Take care, PrinceNamor. TAV has no sense of humour, and a thin skin. Those are two of the reasons why I suspect he/she/it is a CUK troll and not an agent at all.

TAV comes on here and cheerfully slags us off, yet goes crying to the mods when things start getting a little rough.

But calling TAV a "big bag of tulipe" might be OK.

RC, the "ignore" option is your friend. Use it wisely.

[Wanderer]

What legislation? - quote from it please.
What does it say to do if a worker has no passport?

If you're really bored, then have a read of the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006. I must say that I really can't be arsed reading the act itself, but the UK Borders Agency has the following advice which they say is based on the Act and I think it's unlikely that they would mislead us.

1. An employer can be fined up to £10,000 per illegal migrant worker. This is also a civil penalty so the burden of proof is lower than in a criminal court.

2. The employer has a statutory defence if they have checked and copied and certain documents

3. Effectively this means producing a a passport with evidence of a right to work as appropriate. If the worker has no passport then they can produce a long form birth certificate (it must show their parent's names and nationalities because being born in Britain doesn't necessarily make you British) and a letter from HMRC or a previous employer stating the worker's NI number. Other checks are possible, have a read of the Borders Agency guidance.

4. You leave yourself open to an accusation of racial discrimination unless you apply these checks to all workers equally. Imagine you employ an Anglo-Saxon worker and don't check their documents. Then you employ a Black or Asian worker and demand to see their proof of right to live and work in the UK. It may turn out that the worker was born in the UK and is as British as the next man, you are now in trouble for racial discrimination. The simple answer is to apply the same checks to everyone.

As we've already established, the law applies to an employer and an Agency engaging a worker who is director of their own Limited company is not an employer therefore not legally obliged to make these checks. It is unfortunate that some agencies try to claim it is a "legal requirement" when it's not but I can understand how they see it as good business practice to do these checks anyway.

Someone else pointed out that forged passports are available. I've found an interesting story about such a case where a worker used a false passport. When arrested, the worker denied ever presenting the false passport (he would, wouldn't he since he knew the authorities would quickly detect the forgery). However, if you have taken a copy of the document then the worker is going to have a much harder time denying they produced it and may go to jail and/or get deported.

Thus, demanding and taking a copy of the worker's passport raises the bar a bit for illegal workers. Ultimately that's good for business.

Hope all that makes sense....

[rd409]

For a million and one times the problem is NOT providing a proof. The issue is being a contractor, we typically work for many clients during a short span of time. I am not comfortable leaving a copy of my passport at all the agencies I deal with. What I am comfortable is to have a central repository, say "My Ltd Company Reg Address", and I can provide a signed letter on my company letterhead that a copy of all the documents to prove that candidates provided by my ltd company have a legal right to stay and work in the UK, is stored at a location. If the agency insists on seeing the document, I can show the passport for their confirmation. The agency can still save the letter from my ltd company on my file, and can claim that they do the necessary check.
The UKBA insists that employer takes a copy of the document. This is necessary when you are employing someone full time/permenantly. And again this is done by the HR of the company, who are aware of all the regulations and laws pertaining data protection.
If the agency has a HR department, and if they are happy to pay my daily rate whenever I am on bench/ on holiday/sick; I don’t mind providing them with a copy of my documents, as this is fair enough for me as well.

[PrinceNamor]

Fortunately, you couldn't be more wrong.

As for the final line - I rest my case.

Just remember TAV that your income is reliant upon us contractors. You are a parasite, a pimp, a leech.

[malvolio]

Just remember TAV that your income is reliant upon us contractors. You are a parasite, a pimp, a leech.

FFS grow up. You find all your own work then, do you? He may be a leech, but you are an amateur who doesn't understand your own business.

[SueEllen]

For a million and one times the problem is NOT providing a proof. The issue is being a contractor, we typically work for many clients during a short span of time. I am not comfortable leaving a copy of my passport at all the agencies I deal with.

UK based agencies should be registered with the Information Commissioner and list the type of data they hold on individuals including their own staff, which includes things like names and addresses.

Even if they didn't hold your passport the fact that people still and use to habitually put their DOB on their CV means that if anyone they employed wished to carry out ID fraud using your details they could.

Interestedly while banks aren't bothered about how they deal with people's personal info, I found other companies including mobile phone companies are when you threaten to report them to the ICO for screwing around with your personal information.

So if the agency you plan on using isn't registered with the ICO then you shouldn't use them and report them.