R. A. Hettinga wrote:
<http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/05/05/complete_idcard_guide/print.html>
. And employee checks? Here comes the stick. Employers don't at the moment have to check immigration status when they hire someone, so why would they? Indeed, why would they care? But under the provisions of the Asylum and Immigration Act 1996 the secretary of state can make orders requiring eligibility checks by employers. This will be considered "closer to the date of implementation" of the ID card scheme. Slightly out of date then - they have *already* forced this though. check out this piece for further info: http://www.workplacelaw.net/display.php?resource_id=4384
oddly, I can't find any (recent) enabling legislation for this (or commons debate), so it could simply be that way because they have decided it will be...