Care providers were fined almost £600,000 for hiring illegal workers in the first three months of the year, new figures have revealed.
Ten UK firms were handed penalties of between £10,000 and £210,000 between January and March 2025, according to Home Office data analysed by the Standard.
Cadre Healthcare, registered to an address in Cheshire, was slapped with a £210,000 penalty - the second largest fine issued to any UK business over the period.
The Home Office said 14 workers were found in breach of restrictions at the company.
A £105,000 penalty was handed to Jayco Recruitment Limited, a recruitment firm specialising in the care industry, over seven employees.
London-registered care company Barchester Healthcare Limited was fined £60,000, whilst Fountain Lodge Care Home Limited and A And B Quality Care were both fined £45,000 each.
Fines for firms caught employing people without the right to work in Britain have been increased from £15,000 per employee to up to £45,000 for first offences as part of a Government crackdown. Repeat offenders face £60,000 payments.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “Illegal working undermines honest employers, undercuts local wages, and fuels the criminal industry of immigration crime.
“This government is determined to clamp down on that illegal activity in every sector where it occurs, including the care sector.
“Since coming to power, enforcement action nationwide has increased, with visits and arrests up by around 50% on the previous twelve months, and we will be stepping up that action further in the year ahead.”
Since April, care providers have been required to prove that they have tried to employ somebody already in the UK before recruiting new staff from abroad.
In May, the Home Secretary tightened restrictions, announcing plans to close care worker visas for overseas recruitment as part of the government's immigration reforms.
Yvette Cooper said visa rules were being changed to prevent it being used to “recruit from abroad.” Instead, firms will be required to hire British nationals or overseas workers already in the country.
She added at the time that changes to both the skilled worker visas and care visas would lead to “a reduction of up to 50,000 fewer lower-skilled visas over the course of the next year”.
Around 185,000 people were recruited from overseas on health and social care visas between March 2022 and March 2024, Industry body Skills for Care has estimated.
A Unison survey earlier this year found that more than 3,000 migrants were working in the care sector and almost a quarter had paid illegal visa fees.
The government has been intensifying its immigration efforts in recent months.
On Monday, Ms Cooper said there had been a "50% increase in illegal raids and arrests". Nail bars, barber shops, and delivery driver hotspots have all been targeted.
In addition to fines, the Home Office has been applying for shops and businesses to have their licences reviewed revoked, if found guilty of hiring illegal workers.
In the first three months of this year, hundreds of businesses were penalised by the Home Office.
Ministers hope the crackdown on illegal working will reduce “pull factors” for migrants and help stop the criminal gangs facilitating small boat crossings.
Full list of care companies fined:
Care company |
Postcode |
Fine issued |
Jayco Recruitment Limited |
NE31 2EQ |
£105,000 |
Cadre Healthcare Ltd |
ST7 2HN |
£210,000 |
Step Forward Support Services Ltd |
TF2 6PL |
£40,000 |
Primary Care Recruitment |
NE3 3PF |
£20,000 |
A And B Quality Care |
LU3 3QB |
£45,000 |
Lord’s Care Hereford (fine appealed) |
HR2 6FE |
£10,000 |
Barchester Healthcare Limited |
EC2A 1AS |
£60,000 |
Fountain Lodge Care Home Ltd |
CV3 1FP |
£45,000 |
Complete Caring Ltd |
CO10 2SP |
£20,000 |
Supreme Care Agency Ltd |
BD1 3BN |
£15,000 |
The care firms have been contacted by the Standard for comment.
Supreme Care Agency told The Standard that its fine was as a result of a single employee exceeding their visa work restriction by fewer than five hours.
The company said the oversight was caused by a digital shift-booking platform and on this occasion, the line manager and employee failed to notice the system error.
The line manager has since resigned and the company has pledged to ensure better monitoring of visa-specific work hour limits and employee law and regulations.
