HUNDREDS of Poles who have found work in North and East Yorkshire are desperate to fill in national insurance forms but do not have the necessary English.
That is the claim of Dave Beech who, with Mariola Debowska, has launched Planet Language Services.
His new organisation seeks to help Polish workers in the region and their employers to get on the right side of the Inland Revenue now that Poland is a member of the European Union.
He said: "Problems are backing up and neither the Poles nor their bosses realise it. Ultimately, both sides could get lumbered with a great big tax bill.
"An increasing number of firms are taking on Polish workers in this region. You only have to look at food firm Greencorn, formerly Hazelwood, which employs about 200 Poles or Monaghan Mushrooms in Thorpe Willoughby, which relies on Polish employment, to realise how big is the scale of the problem."
Many of these workers are highly skilled and educated people, but because of lack of English find themselves doing menial or repetitive jobs.
He said: "Without National Insurance they are not paying the right amount of taxes, which ultimately is the employer's responsibility."
Now Planet Language Services has consulted with the Department of Social Security in order to find a solution.
Mr Beech said: "We can deal with an entire Polish workforce at a firm en masse. For instance if there are 30 Poles we can help them to fill in all the necessary forms. We send them to the DSS and arrange appointments for interviews and then provide the interpreter during the interviews.
"If there is sufficient interest, we can also offer English language lessons on site so that firms can benefit from their hidden skills."
The new firm is also offering all businesses in the region an opportunity to forge business links with Poland using its translation service.
Mr Beech, originally from York, worked for four years as an English teacher in Poland, where he met Mariola.
Employers can reach the couple by email at planetlanguage@amserve.com
Updated: 11:22 Friday, April 29, 2005
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