Director of restaurant disqualified for employing illegal workers

The director of a restaurant has been disqualified for six years for employing illegal workers.

Anwar Hussain was the director of a restaurant company trading under the name Mim Spice in Southend-On-Sea.

In April 2015, Home Office Immigration Enforcement Officers discovered that Mr Hussain was employing three workers who were not eligible to work in the UK. He is now banned from becoming directly or indirectly involved in the promotion, formation or management of a company for six years from November 2016.

The restaurant went into liquidation in December 2015 owing £34,296 to creditors, of which £30,000 was the fine imposed for employing the three illegal workers.

Sue Macleod, Chief Investigator at The Insolvency Service, said: “Illegal workers are not protected under employment law, and as well as cheating legitimate job seekers out of employment opportunities these employers defraud the tax payer and undercut honest competitors.

“The Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006, makes employers responsible for preventing illegal workers in the UK. To comply with the law, a company must check and be able to prove documents have been checked prior to recruitment that show a person is entitled to work.

“The public has a right to expect that those who break the law will face the consequences and this should serve as a warning to other directors tempted to take on illegal staff.”

A disqualification order has the effect that without specific permission of a court, a person with a disqualification cannot:

• act as a director of a company
• take part, directly or indirectly, in the promotion, formation or management of a company or limited liability partnership
• be a receiver of a company’s property.

Please contact Robert Bedford if you would like advice about employment law or company law issues.