Illegal Worker Pay

[peroxide]

I have a question regarding illegal labourers and how a company is responsible for renumerating someone they have knowingly employed illegally (who had no work visa).

A friend of mine was working for a pretty shady company in Ontario without a visa. At the end of the season, they routed his pay to another planter, who was supposed to transfer my friend his earnings. He didn't.

What happens here? What kind of legal rights does an illegal worker have? What legal issues could pop up for the company, and what kind of action could I take to ensure that this company doesn't do this kind of shit anymore?

[jdtesluk]

That's a complex one. It may depend on the status of your friend, and what evidence he has of this occurring, and whether others would corroborate his story. Without some type of records, he's pretty much screwed. If he was in agreement to participate in this illegal arrangement in the first place pretty, then he has pretty much forsaken most avenues of recourse. If he was promised one thing (believing it to be legit), and then got another, then it steers toward potential discrimination on ethnic and racial grounds (Canadian HRA), IF he is a visible minority from some hard-done-by place, and IF it is shown that this status was the reason he was targeted for exploitation.

[RPF]

I have a question regarding illegal labourers and how a company is responsible for renumerating someone they have knowingly employed illegally (who had no work visa).

A friend of mine was working for a pretty shady company in Ontario without a visa. At the end of the season, they routed his pay to another planter, who was supposed to transfer my friend his earnings. He didn't.

What happens here? What kind of legal rights does an illegal worker have? What legal issues could pop up for the company, and what kind of action could I take to ensure that this company doesn't do this kind of shit anymore?

I think that the fact that this whole situation started off as an illegal activity, I really don't think that there is much anyone can really do unless someone is willing to spend some jail time in the process.

[Scooter]

I'm pretty surprised that a company would even get themselves into this situation. The ramifications for getting caught employing workers without a visa are not insignificant. However, it appears that companies rarely get in trouble:

http://www.vancouversun.com/Penalties+r ... =bc47-83ac

[DanAykroyd69]

Do these illegal workers often get caught? I met some people in Kelowna cherry picking who spoke of working either for cash or on other people's SIN.