A woman who recently joined the company has become a close friend. She migrated to Britain to avoid trouble in her home country and build a new life. However, she has confided to me that she entered the UK, and got this job, with illegal documents. I’m torn between her needs and my loyalty to my boss. What should I do?

On the one hand you’re worried that your friend will be bundled into an airport terminal and sent on her way. On the other you're fretting over your boss, who has risked his business to unwittingly hire an illegal immigrant.

And if you had a third hand you could throw your own feelings into the pot: that keeping this secret is a load too great to bear.

This isn’t your responsibility, but you’re privy to the facts so how can you ignore them?

And there are plenty of facts, not least that in 2006 the Government tightened the criteria for allowing migrant workers into the country. According to the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme, a Home Office brainchild, the onus is now upon your boss to ensure that none of his employees are illegal workers. Bosses have to be vigilant, with a watertight recruitment process in place, or face anything from a £2,000 fine to two years’ imprisonment. This is serious stuff.

Your choices? You could keep quiet and let your boss find out, although that might not be until immigration officers storm the building, or wedge your head in the sand and be party to the deception, or you could beg your colleague to ’fess up.

On the other hand, you could head for the Home Office. This isn’t squealing: it’s getting advice. It’s also staying within the law. Its website gives advice and there is a helpline. You’ll be encouraged to do the right thing (you know what that is) and told how to go about it. It’s not easy — but then that’s the thing with dilemmas.

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