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Law firm to offer business advice

Apr 01 2008

A legal firm in Liverpool is aiming to provide business advice relating to the new changes made to immigration laws.

JST Lawyers is launching a new business immigration division to help prevent businesses from potentially receiving fines if they do not meet new requirements, the Liverpool Daily Post reports.

Peter Mellody, employment lawyer at the company, says that immigration laws can be ‘complex’ and can see businesses dealing with a great deal of additional red tape.

He comments: ‘We’ll be focusing on helping employers to complete the stringent application process and necessary background checks on migrant workers to ensure they’re legally able to work in the UK.’

Responding to the changes in law that will require businesses to verify a number of forms of identification when employing an overseas worker, Alan Tyrrell, employment chairman at the Federation of Small Businesses, suggests the rules are ‘unfair’.

Small businesses should not be expected to act as ‘immigration officers’ or face ‘huge’ fines, he says.

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