Right to work in UK

As stated earlier, last week we looked at a case concerning rest breaks against Abellio London Ltd. This week there is an ET decision involving the same employer, however, this time they won their case.

In Baker v Abellio London Ltd, Mr Baker was a Jamaican born UK resident employed by Abellio. During immigration status checks Abellio asked Mr Baker to provide proof of right to work in the UK.

Mr Baker’s Jamaican passport had expired and the employer lent him £350 to cover the cost of renewing it and getting an endorsement to prove he had the right to work in the UK. The employee failed to obtain the endorsement and was dismissed for failing to provide proof of his right to work in the UK.

The ET held the dismissal was fair because they had:

1. Properly investigated his immigration status

2. Explained verbally, and, in writing to him what evidence he had to produce

3. Warned him of the risk of dismissal should he fail to provide evidence

4. Provided him with a loan to cover the costs of obtaining evidence

5. Given him opportunities to obtain proof

6. Allowed him to appeal against the decision to dismiss

Whilst this is only an ET decision it strengthens the view held in several pieces of case law regarding immigration.