WRC taking harder line on visa compliance

Immigration compliance has become a major focus of Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) inspections, and one in which it is “taking a harder line”, a Lewis Silkin webinar on the Irish Employment and Immigration Intersection (6 October) has heard.

Central Statistics Office figures indicate that, by the end of 2024, non-EEA nationals comprised an estimated 10% to 11% of Ireland’s workforce, with a substantially higher percentage in other sectors.

There are also proposed amendments to the employment-permits system, including to the 50:50 rule in the healthcare sector, to alleviate labour shortages.

Consequently, workplace matters increasingly require both employment and immigration-law expertise and this intersection is most frequently seen in WRC inspections.

Lewis Silkin senior associate Emma Quinn explained that inspections could be announced or unannounced, routine, prompted by a complaint or as part of a targeted sector-wide campaign.

They may also involve other agencies – including the gardaí, Revenue, and the Department of Social Protection.

Inspection targets

Food services, hospitality, and agriculture are “regular targets for WRC inspections” but large corporate multinationals have also been scrutinised.

Immigration formed a large part of a WRC inspection, Quinn said, adding “in some cases, inspectors will carry out a separate inspection to ensure right-to-work compliance”.

Lewis Silkin managing associate Declan Groarke said there had been a shift from historical sampling.

“It's becoming far more of a due-diligence exercise, and there's definitely been a change of approach,” he noted.

In addition to employment-law related documentation such as working-time records, employment contracts, records of annual leave and public holidays, and payroll records, employers are asked to provide all employees’ right-to-work status.

Where right-to-work is required, employers must provide details of stamps and permits and copies of these.

It can be time-consuming but, if immigration compliance isn’t in place, Groarke said, and there was doubt over an employee's status, staff would be sent home while investigations were conducted.

Operational repercussions

This can take months and have operational repercussions.

Emma Quinn drew attention to the WRC's 2025 annual report, which outlined that 60 out of 78 convictions were under the Employment Permits Act.

The three main sectors that received convictions were food services, hair and beauty, and wholesale/retail.

Declan Groarke said that food, retail, hospitality and leisure employers faced heightened risk because of higher numbers of non-EEA workers, the frequent absence of a HR function, tight margins, shift work, and reliance on Stamp 2 student permission-holders.

Stamp 2 holders may work up to 20 hours a week in term time and 40 hours during holiday periods, but Groarke flagged that the 20-hour limit was a cap, not an average, and holiday periods were standardised.

He added that employers could fail to understand that, although graduate level permissions allowed full-time work, they were time-limited, “So they can fall out of permission quite quickly”.

Groarke also warned that the ‘12-week concession’, which allows work to continue after a permission has expired once the renewal application has been lodged before expiry, does not apply in all circumstances.

Quinn noted that, even where inspectors found minor infractions, the WRC was “less willing to give an employer the benefit of the doubt, and they're moving more quickly to enforcement and prosecution”, backed by a rise in joint immigration operations with An Garda Síochána.

Employers found in contravention may be summonsed to the District Court and fined up to €4000, with scope in the act for fines up to €250,000.

However, Groarke said, “the real risk” of being found in contravention was “reputational damage” that “increases your risk rating within the WRC … and then all of a sudden you've more frequent inspections”.

Rigorous vetting

Quinn flagged that, while immigration law incentivised rigorous vetting, employment-law obligations remained.

“Employers really can't ask ‘are you Irish, where are you from, at an interview in place of a proper right to work check,” she said.

Quinn added: “And, if an employer was to take this approach, they would risk a race discrimination claim under the Employment Equality Acts”.

Similarly, a blanket policy of rejecting candidates requiring permission is most likely indirect discrimination on race grounds.

Role-specific restrictions may be justifiable where a role is ineligible for an employment permit.

Although the statutory defence requires an employer to show it took reasonable steps to carry out right-to-work checks, no official guidance exists on how to do this.

Declan Groarke flagged the Lewis Silkin right-to-work guide, and advised that employers should:

• Check every new hire consistently, including Irish, EEA and British nationals, to avoid race-discrimination claims,
• Complete checks before employment begins,
• Inspect originals where possible – virtual checks are not prohibited but should be followed by in-person verification on day one,
• Verify validity, identity, date of birth and name, noting errors can appear on IRP cards,
• Keep a record of what was checked, when, and by whom – including a copy of the IRP card for non-EEA nationals,
• Because non-EEA permissions operate on a multi-stage application procedure, where IRP cards and employment permits often expire at different intervals, expiry dates should be tracked, with follow-ups at 90, 60, 30, 14 and seven days,
• Retain responsibility if using a third-party provider, as liability rests with the employer.