The Tiger Tavern Pub and Grill in Tipton has had its licence revoked after employing an illegal worker at below minimum wage. Sandwell Council made the decision following a Home Office requested hearing due to serious breaches of employment law.
Last year, immigration officials discovered a dishwasher working without the right to work in the UK. The bar and grill was subsequently fined £45,000. Despite this, the owner, Gurminder Singh, failed to implement significant changes, leading to the revocation of the licence at the July 10 hearing.
Mr Singh admitted to trusting a business partner to conduct proper employment checks and called the illegal employment “the biggest mistake” he had made. However, Councillors expressed concern that only after nearly a year had right-to-work checks been conducted consistently. The illegal worker, who entered the UK on a student visa in 2023, reported working long shifts for as little as £7 per hour—well below the national minimum wage of £12.21—raising clear exploitation concerns.
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Legal representatives argued that the worker’s employment was accidental and not a wider issue across the business, pleading for licence retention to help pay off the fine. Yet, councillors highlighted that the illegal worker represented 25% of the workforce, emphasizing the serious neglect in compliance.
The Home Office reaffirmed that employers must carry out right-to-work checks before employment starts. Failure to do so is a criminal offence and enables exploitation. The Tiger Tavern’s continued failure to meet these obligations ultimately led to the council’s decision to revoke its licence, aiming to uphold fair labour practices and immigration compliance across the region.