Every time a business hires a new staff member in Australia, they must verify their citizenship, rights and conditions to work in the country. This government regulation applies to all businesses, but doesn’t have to be a burden. Here’s what you need to know about the obligation and how to meet the requirement quickly.

Australia is a great place to live and work, and the world knows it. According to the Parliament of Australia there are almost 200,000 immigrants to the country every year, many of which form part of Australia’s growing workforce and are important economic contributors.

Foreign workers can bring plenty of knowledge, skills and passion to jobs in a range of industries. However, many of them have conditional working rights for the country which must be understood and followed by businesses when offering them work.

The Department of Home Affairs requires all businesses under The Migration Act (1958) to validate the working rights of their workers. Penalties and fines can be up to $102,000 for ordinary breaches or $255,000 for aggravated breaches where a business knew they were violating conditions. Where businesses aren’t aware of the conditions, fines can still be up to $76,500 per worker.

To ensure businesses are on top of these conditions, it is an Australian government requirement that workers be checked when employment is offered. Thankfully, in 2018 performing these official checks is now easier and faster than ever before.

Here are all the facts businesses must know in 2018 about work rights checks, and the best ways to complete them fast for a fully compliant workforce.

Which workforce members must be checked?

Government requirements state that every new worker, regardless of their nationality, must have their citizenship validated. That includes both foreign workers as well as Australian citizens.

To summarise: businesses must check the working rights of all individuals during the screening process. It is logical to conduct such a check at the screening stage, as the outcome may impact the engagement of that individual.

When hiring overseas workers there are a range of visa restrictions, sponsorship types and conditions for living and working in Australia. These regulations can include hours worked per week, length of employment, location restrictions and more.

All businesses by law are obligated to check and confirm these working rights during the recruitment and onboarding process. This ensures the regulations are understood and the appropriate protocols applied for ongoing monitoring and administration.

It is also a legal requirement for businesses to verify the citizenship details of Australian workers. This can be done by collecting a copy of their passport, citizenship certificate or birth certificate to validate the claim. You will need to securely store this information as part of your compliance obligation.