Prosecutions for hiring illegal workers rise

The number of employers prosecuted for hiring illegal workers has risen dramatically since February.

So far 352 businesses have been hit with fines since the points-based system for skilled migrant workers came into force.

According to an investigation by Caterersearch sister site Personneltoday.com just 15 businesses were fined for employing illegal workers in 2007 before the point-based system came into force.

Employers face fines of up to £10,000 for each illegal worker they employ, and more than £3.4m worth of fines have been issued according to the UK Border Agency.

In May the Home Office began a name-and-shame policy for companies that had paid their fines. It currently lists 34 employers across the UK, including 25 catering businesses.

According to Jabez Lam, co-ordinator of the Chinese Immigration Concern Committee, which is part of the Ethnic Catering Alliance, 73% of the 34 businesses named and shamed were catering businesses of which the overwhelming majority (64.7%) were ethnic caterers.

Nearly seven in 10 (69%) of all illegal workers found in name and shamed businesses worked in catering generating £197,000 worth of fines for the industry.

The remaining 322 cases are yet to be resolved so are not yet listed by the Home Office. A spokeswoman for the Home Office refused to break-down the remaining cases by industry sector.

Read the full article on Personneltoday.com >>

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By Christopher Walton

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