I have personally not met with any representatives of the Bulgarian and Romanian communities to discuss the operation of the Accession (Immigration and Worker Authorisation) Regulations 2006. Nor has a request been made to do so.
Officials from the Border and Immigration Agency are in regular contact with officials at the Romanian and Bulgarian embassies in the United Kingdom. They participated in two seminars on the operation of the transitional arrangements in December 2006 and will continue to participate in any future events arranged.
As of 29 April, 42 fixed penalty notices have been served; 38 on Romanian nationals and four on Bulgarian nationals.
As of 29 April, no employers have been prosecuted for employing Romanian and Bulgarian nationals without the correct permission to work in the United Kingdom, as we have been working with employers in other ways to ensure compliance with the Regulations which govern the employment of Romanian and Bulgarian nationals.
Bulgarian and Romanian nationals engaged in self-employed activities are subject to the same regulatory regime as a UK national engaged in such an activity. The same level of evidence is required as would be necessary for a UK national to establish that activity undertaken is genuine self-employment.
Nationals from the two states in question are not required to carry at all times documentation confirming their status in the United Kingdom. A worker’s employment status for tax and National Insurance purposes is determined by the terms and conditions under which they work and is based on case law. Should they be questioned regarding their activities by an Immigration official conducting an illegal working investigation, that official will seek to establish if the activity being undertaken is genuine self-employment. It is the responsibility of both the worker and those he purports to provide services for to ensure that the relationship is one of genuine self-employment, and not an attempt to mask an employer-employee relationship.