Employing a person outside the conditions of his or her work permit is an offence against the Immigration Law.
Attorney Sherri Bodden-Cowan called her client’s action a genuine mistake and a genuine misunderstanding.
Magistrate Margaret Ramsay-Hale called it a statutory offence: ‘You simply cannot do it.’
A lot of the Immigration Law remains beyond the easy understanding of the majority of the public, she commented. But the employer in Cayman is required to assiduously follow the letter of the law. The probability of error is compounded when an employer has many employees in so many areas.
That was the situation put forward by Mrs. Bodden-Cowan after a guilty plea was entered on behalf of Black Pearl Ltd. The charge related to a man who had a work permit as a food and beverage server, but worked almost a month as manager of a skate shop.
After hearing mitigation, the magistrate imposed a fine of $500.
Mrs. Bodden-Cowan explained that Black Pearl is the holding company for a number of businesses at the Grand Harbour Shopping Centre. These include a restaurant, skateboard park, skateboard shop and wave machine. Each has its own trade and business licence.
The director of Black Pearl is the developer of Grand Harbour and a major investor in the businesses there.
There have been difficulties finding good employees to staff the businesses, Mrs. Bodden-Cowan related. The employee in question did have a work permit, but it was for the restaurant, not for the skate shop.
The skate shop had a Caymanian manager who had to be terminated. The attorney emphasised that no claim had been filed for unfair dismissal. Until this incident there had never been any investigation or allegation that people had been employed outside their terms and conditions.
The man employed in the restaurant worked as shop manager from 25 April until 22 May. When the offence came to light, the businesses had to be closed for a week, including the skateboard park and wave machine, resulting in a substantial loss.
The employer did instruct his agent to apply for the proper work permit once he became aware of the infraction, Ms Bodden-Cowan concluded.
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