Employers named and shamed over illegal staff

Employers were fined almost £3 million after hundreds of illegal workers were discovered in just three months last year, new figures have revealed.

The details came as the UK Border Agency (UKBA) named and shamed firms which either failed to pay fines or were served with a second penalty within three years for employing illegal workers.

The UKBA warned that hiring workers illegally “undercuts businesses that operate within the law, undermines British workers, and exploits migrant workers”.

A total of 342 penalties totalling £2.9m were issued after 560 illegal workers were found in the UK between July and September last year, the figures showed.

From today, the UKBA is naming and shaming employers.

Those which either fail to make regular payments or are served with a further penalty within three years will be named on the agency’s website after their appeal rights have been exhausted, the UKBA said.

It comes after the UK government has pledged to cut net migration from the current level of around 250,000 to the tens of thousands last seen in the 1990s by 2015.

In a statement, the agency said: “Illegal working causes damaging social and economic problems for the UK. It undercuts businesses that operate within the law, undermines British workers, and exploits migrant workers.”