Punjab-origin UK restaurant owner banned for hiring illegal workers
Thursday, 18/02/2016
http://paper.hindustantimes.com/epaper/viewer.aspx
LONDON: Punjab-origin Harcharan Singh Sekhon, who employed five illegal immigrants at his Indian restaurant in Glasgow (Scotland), has been disqualified for six years from being a director of a limited company.
An investigation by the Insolvency Service found that Sekhon’s failure to ensure that the company (Kirkcrest Limited) complied with its obligations under immigration laws (specifically, to make sure that relevant immigration checks were completed and copy documents retained) resulted in the employment of illegal workers.
Following a visit from immigration officers, during which the illegal workers were discovered, the company was issued with a £25,000 (about Rs 25 lakh) penalty notice, which remained outstanding.
All illegal workers were found to be paid less than the national minimum wage, official sources said on Wednesday. Sekhon, who admitted to hiring the illegal workers and paying them less than the minimum wage, was running a restaurant called Bombay Blues.
Sekhon admitted: “I failed to ensure that Kirkcrest complied with its statutory obligations under The Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act.”
