A North Yorkshire food outlet has been fined £50,000 for employing five illegal workers.

A second outlet was also fined £15,000 for employing one worker, who had no right to work in the UK.

The penalties were released in a quarterly update from the Homes Office on enforcement activity.

The latest data related to the period of January 1 to March 31, 2024

The government department said it had issued some 38 penalties across North East England, Yorkshire and Humberside. Altogether, fines totalling £790,000 were issued.

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Among them, Bitz ‘N’ Pizzas of 24 Flowergate, Whitby, was fined £50,000 for employing five who had no right to work in the UK.

Bengal Spice Ltd of 47 Prospect Road, Scarborough, was fined £15,000 concerning the unlawful employment of one individual, who also had no right to work in the UK.

No businesses in the York, Harrogate, or Selby areas were listed.

However, others from Yorkshire were listed from Hull, Redcar, Doncaster, Rotherham, Leeds, Wakefield, Dewsbury.

Typically, the businesses were in the take-away/ restaurant sector, but they did include several car wash operations, sectors the new Labour  secretary Yvette Cooper is targeting in her efforts to tackle the issue.

According to the Government, there can be severe penalties for employing individuals who do not have the right to work.

In January this year, the previous Conservative government tripled the potential penalty to employers who failed to do proper “right to work” checks, up to a maximum of £60,000 per illegal worker.

The move, announced late last year, came as part of a crackdown on illegal immigration, promising stronger action against businesses that either knowingly breach right to work check rules or don’t take appropriate measures to make sure they’re compliant.

This included the first increase in “civil penalties” (fines) since 2014, jumping from £15,000 for a first offence and £20,000 for repeat offenders to £45,000 and £60,000 respectively.

Gov.uk says: "You can be sent to jail for 5 years and pay an unlimited fine if you’re found guilty of employing someone who you knew or had ‘reasonable cause to believe’ did not have the right to work in the UK.

This includes, for example, if you had any reason to believe that:

  • They did not have leave (permission) to enter or remain in the UK
  • Their leave had expired
  • They were not allowed to do certain types of work
  • Their papers were incorrect or false

A Home Office spokesperson also told the Press: “We do not comment on individual cases, but we are determined to clamp down both on illegal working and the exploitative treatment of illegal workers.”