Two companies have been handed fines worth up to £400,000
They are among the first businesses to be hit with recently
increased penalties for employing illegal workers
Twelve men and a woman were arrested and will be removed from the
UK
Two construction firms have been handed fines worth up to
£400,000 for hiring illegal workers after a dawn raid on a north
Wales mill.
Northern Irish concrete supplier FP McCann was fined up to
£225,000 for five contractors found to be working illegally.
Meanwhile Stockport-based Adana Construction Ltd will have to pay
up to £180,000 for employing another four immigration offenders.
Twelve men and a woman were arrested and will be removed from the
UK following a 5am raid on the Shotton Mill site in Deeside,
north Wales on Tuesday March 19. They were all working as
subcontracted labourers and steel-fixers.
mmigration Enforcement officers descended on the former paper
mill – now being turned into a containerboard factory – in
response to allegations from the public. Seven contractors, from
India and Albania, were later taken into custody, while the
others were bailed and are required to report to immigration
officials.
Officers entered with permission from the site managers, who have
since launched an internal investigation.
This operation follows tough action from the Home Office to
triple the fines for companies employing illegal workers. From
February, the civil penalty rose to £45,000 per worker for a
first breach, up from £15,000, and to £60,000 for repeat
breaches, up from £20,000.
HM Inspector Ryan Moore, Home Office Immigration
Enforcement said:
“Illegal working causes untold harm to communities, puts
vulnerable people at risk, defrauds the public purse and
undercuts honest employers and jobseekers.
“Our teams will do everything in our power to clamp down on this
damaging practice and hit those who cheat our laws in the pocket.
This operation was a huge success and I thank our officers who
executed it expertly.”
Both companies were issued civil penalty referral notices pending
a review of evidence from the site visit and company records.
ENDS
- More information on our increased fines can be found
here
