Restaurant faces fine for illegal workers

20 Jun 2011 | Posted by Carl Thomas


A restaurant in London is facing a fine for employing people without UK work permits.

The El Matador on London Road in Sevenoaks was subject to a raid by UK immigration officials earlier this month.

On June 3rd the UK Border Agency officers attended the establishment and, after checking the UK immigration status of staff, discovered that two people were working there illegally.

A Brazilian man aged 35 and a woman aged 37 from Argentina were found to have overstayed their UK visas and continued to work illegally in this country.

Karen Dunning, head of the UKBA's local immigration team for Kent, commented: "We are committed to removing people who have no right to be in the UK.

"The message is clear for employers - we will not tolerate illegal working. It is a crime that not only undercuts local business but also has a serious impact on communities, taking jobs from those who are genuinely allowed to work."

El Matador now faces a potential fine of up to £20,000 for employing people without the correct UK visas.

The fines will be issued if the employers are unable to prove that the correct right-to-work checks were conducted on the individuals before they were hired.

These checks include actions such as requesting to see a passport of asking for a UK work permit.

Ms Dunning added: "It is the legal responsibility of all employers to check that staff have the right to work in the UK.

"There are simple ways of checking a foreign national's right to work and there are no excuses for failing to do so."