Dismissal Letter - Restriction to Work in the UK - Sample Letter

Sep 15, 2026

Employment law update sample dismissal letter template for situations where an employer holds a reasonable belief that an employee lacks eligibility to work in the UK. Provides legal rationale for dismissal, warns about criminal liability for employing illegal workers, and highlights verification steps such as scrutinising documents and personal details. Specifies requirements for fair process, including agreement with a 24 Hour Advice Service, formal meeting, reporting suspicions to the Home Office, and confirming the effective termination date with follow-up written notice. Includes appeal instructions and placeholders for dates and subject.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLetters

FormatPDF

Pages3

Reading Time1 min

AccessFree to download

SAMPLE LETTER

Restriction to Work in the UK

Letter Template and Meeting Details

Termination Notice and Appeal

Employment law update Dismissal LetterRestriction to Work in the UK SAMPLE LETTER This letter must be transferred to your own letterhead, with all optional and personalised information completed. Dismissal Letter – Restriction to Work in the UK • Dismissal for a reasonable belief that an employee is not eligible to work in the UK has been shown to be a fair reason for dismissal. It is important to seek guidance from the 24 Hour Advice Service at all stages of the process. • It is a criminal offence to employ someone who you know does not have the right to work in the UK. You can be fined £20,000 in respect of each illegal worker you negligently employ. If you knowingly do so you can be imprisoned and face an unlimited fine. • The law does not expect employers to be experts in detecting forged documents. You should, however, take reasonable steps to obtain documentation and to scrutinise it. Does the photograph look like the employee? Is any stated date of birth commensurate with his or her appearance? • This letter should only be issued with the express agreement of the 24 Hour Advice Service and should follow a fair process, including a meeting with the employee. • If you suspect one of your workers is working illegally, you should report your suspicions to the Home Office. You can do this by calling the Immigration Enforcement hotline on 0300 123 7000, or online on the [gov.uk](gov.uk) website and you will receive a unique reference number. It is important to do this because, if the worker is found to be illegal, the fact that you have reported your suspicions and co-operated with the Home Office will be used as mitigation to reduce the fine imposed on you if you have failed to undertake the correct recruitment checks. • The effective date of termination (EDT) is the date the employee is made aware of the decision to dismiss them. Therefore, if you let the employee know verbally immediately after you have made the decision to dismiss, then we can contend that this date is the employment ends. You should follow up the phone call/conversation with a letter to confirm the dismissal, referring to the verbal conversation. SAMPLE LETTER This letter must be transferred to your own letterhead, with all optional and personalised information completed. (Date) Dear [Subject], Despite my repeated requests to you, dated (give dates of verbal and any written requests) you have failed to produce satisfactory evidence of your eligibility to work in the UK. We therefore invited you to a formal meeting, which you attended on (date) . This meeting was arranged to allow you a final opportunity to produce the satisfactory evidence of your eligibility to work in the UK and to discuss this matter further. *Either Further to this meeting you have still failed to produce the relevant documentation and consequently have led us to form the reasonable belief that you are not eligible to work in the UK. *Or Further to this meeting you provided us with (type of paperwork) but I must inform you that it is my reasonable belief that this does not provide adequate evidence of your right to work in the UK. In view of this I have to inform you that until such time that you can provide satisfactory evidence of your eligibility to work in the UK, you can no longer be employed by us or receive further payments from us. It is with regret that I confirm that your employment is terminated with immediate effect. You are not entitled to notice or pay in lieu of notice. You may appeal against my decision and should you wish to do so, you should write to (name, job title) within (number of) days giving the full reasons for your appeal. Yours Sincerely [Firstname] [LastName] *delete/amend as appropriate

FAQs

What reason justifies dismissal in the template for UK work eligibility?

Dismissal is justified where the employer holds a reasonable belief that the employee is not eligible to work in the UK after failing to produce satisfactory evidence.

What legal risk does the employer face for employing someone without the right to work?

Employing someone you know does not have the right to work is a criminal offence, potentially leading to fines, imprisonment, and unlimited fines for knowing offences.

How is the effective date of termination (EDT) defined and communicated?

EDT is the date the employee is made aware of the dismissal decision. If informed verbally immediately after the decision, the template advises following up with a letter confirming the dismissal and referencing the verbal conversation.

Sep 15, 2026

Uploaded by Emma Mercer