Immigration and council officers found an illegal employee working for '£200-£250' per week at a cafe in Chiswick.

The West London Immigration, Compliance, and Enforcement Team (ICE) alongside a licensing officer from Hounslow Council visited Hothouse Café, 448 Chiswick High Road on 15 June 2023, where they found an Algerian national without a legal right to work in the UK.

The Home Office previously visited the cafe on 21 September 2019 and found four illegal workers in the premises and handed the owner, Samy Amer, a £40,000 fine.

Amer paid the full £40,000 civil penalty, but he received another fine of £15,000 for the most recent visit in June 2023.

During the Home Office and council's visit of the cafe on 15 June 2023, it found the illegal worker acting 'nervous' and avoiding eye contact.

The worker attempted to leave the cafe but was stopped and made to do an interview to verify his legal and working status within the UK.

In the interview, the Algerian national revealed he had worked at the cafe for 18 months after Covid as a chef and did weekends and weekdays, four or five hours a day.

When asked who gave him the job, he said: "Samy has helped me to obtain a job here. I know him for a long time, and he is my friend."

The illegal worker admitted that Amer asked for his right to work and immigration status before hiring him, but he did not have any.

"He asked me but because I was only coming to help. I did not provide any right to work or immigration status documents.

"We did not talk about, so Samy does not know", said the illegal worker.

The Home Office then questioned Amer but he became "aggressive" and "disruptive" towards officers.

Amer explained that the illegal worker had a French passport, ID and insurance number but when asked where they were, he replied: "I don't know. I am not saying anything more."

Amer tried interfering with officers dealing with the Algerian by telling him to remain silent whilst filming the officers.

The cafe owner was then warned by an officer that if he continued to interfere he would be arrested for obstructing an immigration officer in the course of an investigation.

The Hothouse is a cafe and bar in Chiswick High Road (credit: The Hothouse/Facebook).

In its report, immigration officers said: "It is clear from the answers given by the license holder that there are clear differences in accounting for the employment of (the illegal worker).

"In addition, his behaviour was disruptive and not fitting of a responsible license holder who should be cooperating with responsible authorities."

According to Home Office officers, Amer behaved in a similar way during the 2019 visit where they found four illegal workers at the cafe.

The officer's report said: "During the visit on 21 September 2019 Amer was uncooperative with the officers and refused to complete the illegal working employer interview.

They added: "Whether by negligence or wilful blindness, illegal workers were engaged in activity on the premises, yet it is a simple process for an employer to ascertain what documents they should check before a person can work."

Despite the Chiswick cafe hiring illegal workers, local residents have expressed support for the cafe, mentioning that it brings the community together, its service being 'outstanding' and that it's the perfect place for singers and dancers to enjoy karaoke.

One resident said: "I am a valued member of a medical team working within the NHS, when I moved to Chiswick for my position last year from Ireland, I knew no-one when I first landed and I am forever grateful to the community of responsible and supportive individuals that I have met at the Hothouse.

"We have a thriving community of singers/musicians who are developing skills and talent and supporting each other, through a very difficult climate.

"Let me be clear. The Hothouse is vital in supporting the mental health of many of the wider community within your borough of Hounslow."

In a statement submitted to the council Licensing Committee, Amer claimed that National Insurance details were obtained from his employees, and that he wrongly assumed this was sufficient proof for the right to work.

Amer denied paying staff less than the minimum wage, stating wages were either at the minimum wage or £0.50 above.

"It is difficult to recruit staff to work in the premises and my experience is that paying the minimum wage is not likely to see staff want to work there.

"If I paid less than the minimum wage, which I do not do, I believe that no-one would want to work in the premises as there are other alternatives", said the cafe owner.

He also mentioned that immigration officers were acting in an intimidating nature during the 2023 visit.

Amer hired the Algerian national because he had a French Identity Card, originally agreed as self-employed, and noted the loss of certain documents.

Amer said: "He had access to the drawer where the papers were kept and I can only assume that he took the copy away. It is entirely wrong to say that we did not discuss the right to work and that he did not show me any documents."

He added: "The suggestion that I have acted in a criminal way is not correct as I did not know or have reasonable cause to believe that the staff did not have the right to work.

"It may be that I have not kept records as effectively as I should but that situation has now been corrected and I use the attached induction form when taking on new staff.

"A copy is kept securely, along with the ID for each person and I conduct right to work checks on them all."

Hounslow Council's Licensing Committee has yet to make a decision on whether to revoke Hothouse Café's license.

To read the Licensing Committee's report on the cafe, click here.

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