A total of nine individuals have been caught in paid employment in the Glasgow area despite the fact that they did not have the correct UK work permits.
UK Border Agency (UKBA) officers conducted raids on nail bars in Glasgow and nearby Clydebank, focusing on the USA Nail Bar and Beauty chain.
They discovered four Vietnamese people at the Dumbarton Road, Glasgow branch of the nail bar and a further five Vietnamese individuals at the Alexander Street, Clydebank branch.
Further checks are being conducted on the individuals concerned but they have been confirmed to be working illegally.
The businesses concerned have been issued with a civil penalty notice for employing illegal workers but they could also face the possibility of fines of up to £10,000 per person if it is discovered that they did not conduct the required checks before offering the Vietnamese people a job.
Phil Taylor, regional director of the UKBA for Scotland and Northern Ireland, commented: “We will not tolerate illegal working which threatens to damage our communities, it undercuts wages and exploits vulnerable workers. The UKBA will act on intelligence to target those businesses which ignore the rules and remove those with no right to be in the UK.”
The news comes as the government has announced changes to the UK immigration system designed to make it easier for employers to conduct checks to see if foreign national potential employees have the right to paid employment in the UK.
From spring 2012, businesses will be able to go online to look at the employee's biometric residence permit, which will hold the individual's fingerprints and photograph.