Attorney general Baroness Scotland has been fined £5,000 after employing a housekeeper who was not legally allowed to work in the UK.
The UK Border Agency said she took steps to check Tongan Loloahi Tapui’s right to work but had not kept a copy of documents, as required by law.
Baroness Scotland, the government’s chief legal adviser, helped to take the legislation on employing illegal workers through Parliament when she was a Home Office minister.
Border Agency chief Lin Homer said that the case “serves to remind all employers” of their responsibilities to take steps to prevent people working illegally.
Between February 2008 – when the illegal workers penalty scheme started – and June 2009, the total number of fines paid by employers was 1,156.
