Number of British Businesses Fined for Employing Illegal Workers Trebles

UK border signage is pictured at the passport control in Arrivals in Terminal 2 at Heathrow Airport in London, on July 16, 2019. Daniel Leal/AFP via Getty Images

The number of British businesses found to be employing illegal workers has more than trebled within a year.

Analysis of government data by The Epoch Times found that between 2022 and 2023, 1,292 fines totalling £25.1 million were issued against premises employing undocumented workers.

The figure is an almost £20 million jump in civil penalties issued to companies for the same period in 2021 to 2022.

According to immigration enforcement statistics, 379 fines were issued in those 12 months, amounting to just over £6 million.

The huge hike is believed to be a result of a Home Office “clamp down” on illicit workers, working with enforcement teams focusing on the UK’s hospitality sector.

The majority of businesses found to be flouting strict immigration employment rules were restaurants, take-aways, and car washes.

One of the highest fines issued was to the owners of a Chinese take-away in Liverpool, who were ordered to pay £60,000 for illegally employed undocumented staff.

The figures come just months after immigration minister Robert Jenrick announced that fines for employers who allow illegal migrants to work for them will be tripled.

However, the penalties—which will also target landlords who rent properties to undocumented tenants—don’t come in to force until the start of 2024.

Hotel Operation

Last week, 11 workers at a four-star London hotel were found to be illegally employed following a Home Office intelligence-led operation.

The men and women had been employed as cleaners, porters, and maids and were working up to 15 hours a day through third-party recruitment agencies.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the Home Office said the agency staff, of six different nationalities, were “significantly underpaid and were thought to be working at the hotel for half the normal salary under two separate subcontractors.”

Five of the staff encountered were detained pending their removal from the country, while a further six were bailed with requirements to report regularly to the Home Office.

One of those arrested at the Marriott Regent Park hotel had been smuggled into the UK illegally, the statement said.

Speaking about the operation, Suran Padiachie, deputy director of immigration enforcement and compliance at the Home Office, said: “When the British public pay for a hotel room in Central London, they should be confident that the staff serving them are contributing to society through fair and lawful employment.

“I’m grateful to Marriott for their cooperation with this case. Their support allowed my officers to swiftly identify the illegal workers and take action against their third party employers to ensure they face appropriate sanctions.

“Illegal working exploits vulnerable people and damages the economy, which is why we’re using the full weight of the law to clamp down on rogue employers and remove those with no right to be in the UK.”

The Home Office said employers of the agency staff have been handed a civil penalty referral notice, which could result in a fine of up to £20,000 for each illegal worker.

Britain's Minister for Immigration, Robert Jenrick, arrives for a weekly meeting of Cabinet ministers at 10, Downing Street in London on May 16, 2023. Carl Court/Getty Images

Increase in Fines

In August, Mr. Jenrick announced that employers who allow illegal immigrants to work for them face a five-figure fine under increased efforts to beat the small boats crisis.

Landlords who allow illegal immigrants to live in their property will also face the significantly increased financial penalties.

The minister said “unscrupulous” bosses and property owners are enabling the business model of “evil people smugglers to continue.”

The hike in civil penalties will see employers liable to a maximum fine of £45,000 per worker for a first breach and £60,000 for repeat offenders, tripling both from the last increase in 2014.

Landlords face fines going from £1,000 per occupier to £10,000, with repeat breaches going from £3,000 to £20,000.

Penalties relating to lodgers will also be increased with landlords found to be housing illegal immigrants hit with £80 per lodger.

They also face fines of £1,000 per occupier for a first breach to up to £5,000 per lodger and £10,000 per occupier.

Repeat breaches will be up to £10,000 per lodger and £20,000 per occupier, up from £500 and £3,000 respectively. The higher penalties will come in at the start of 2024.

Between January and March this year, Home Office enforcement teams found over 500 people working illegally in businesses across the UK.

Midlands and the eastern England region had the highest numbers of undocumented immigrants found to be employed unlawfully, with 152 individuals detained following investigations.

Scotland and Northern Ireland recorded the lowest number, with 31 people found to be illegally working during the same period.