Camborne restaurant fined £10,000 over illegal workers
10:55am Monday 17th September 2012 in News
A Camborne restaurant has been fined £10,000 after the UK Border Agency found two illegal workers employed there.
Officers raided Spice Cottage, Commercial Street, at 7pm on September 13 last year and arrested two members of staff from Bangladesh.
Immigration checks revealed that one of the men had stayed in the UK illegally after his visa expired, while his colleague had entered the country illegally.
The pair were removed from the UK in November 2011. Spice Cottage was issued with a potential fine notice for employing illegal workers and given an opportunity to prove that the correct right-to-work checks were made before the men were taken on.
They failed to do so and have now been handed a fine of £10,000.
Kenny Chapman, who heads the UK Border Agency's local immigration team in the South West, said: “Employers are responsible for carrying out document checks and we work with businesses to let them know what they need to do.
“Illegal working has damaging social and economic consequences for the UK. It undercuts businesses that operate within the law, undermines British workers and exploits migrant workers.
“The message is clear for employers - we will not tolerate illegal working and we will take firm action against those who ignore the rules.”
Every year, the UK Border Agency imposes civil penalties on hundreds of companies which fail to carry out the necessary right-to-work checks on their staff. In 2011 the agency served more than 1,100 penalty notices on employers, collecting nearly £7 million in penalty fines.
The civil penalty scheme sits alongside the criminal offence of knowingly employing an illegal migrant worker. Prosecutions take place in cases where rogue employers knowingly and deliberately use illegal migrant workers, often for personal financial gain.
It carries a maximum custodial sentence of two years and/or an unlimited fine.
The UK Border Agency provides support to employers so they can understand the rules around employing migrant workers. This includes visits by staff, a dedicated telephone helpline (0300 123 4699) or guidance published at www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/business-sponsors/preventing-illegal-working/ .
Anyone who has information on suspected immigration offenders can visit www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/aboutus/contact/report-crime/ .
For more information and contact details for the South West Local Immigration Team visit www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/aboutus/your-region/wales-sw/local-immigration-teams/ .
