Report highlights illegal employment

Students working outside permitted hours and undocumented migrants are more likely to be involved in illegal employment than any other sector, according to a report looking at non-EU nationals and the labour market.

The report says areas at high risk of illegal employment include the catering sector, such as takeaway, fast-food, and ethnic restaurants; and workers in the private home such as childcare workers, including those known as au pairs, and elderly carers.

It says while a number of breaches of the Employment Permits Acts were detected last year by the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC), the illegal work of non-EU nationals could also constitute a breach of immigration law, but prosecutions under the Immigration Act for illegal employment are “uncommon”.