$5K fine for employers hiring persons illegally in VI- Mervin D. Hastings
This was stated by Acting Labour Commissioner Marvin D. Hastings during the annual Third District Job Fair at Therapy Works in Hannah Bay on Sunday, September 28, 2025.
"We have a major problem in the Virgin Islands when it comes to illegal working, a lot of illegal working. You have a lot of people who come here on vacation and end up working for a month or two. We have people that come and they overstay their time and they [are] working," Hastings said.
The Acting Labour Commissioner noted that although the Labour Protection Unit in the Virgin Islands is not large, it will conduct inspections to address this issue. "Unfortunately, we don't have a huge Labour Protection Unit, so we’re not out enough. We're going to be out doing some inspections. So, we are giving you a warning here today: so if you know of any illegal workers, make them legal."
Both employers & employees to be fined
He urged employers to comply with the regulations: "Have them leave the territory, find a work permit for them, register them in the system, and get them legally employed with yourself.’’
Mr Hastings also mentioned that employers will now face a $5,000 fine for hiring vacationers illegally, not only the employees. "As of last year, the Immigration Department updated their regulations. Before, they could only fine the employee; luckily, now they can give a five-thousand-dollar fine to both the employee and the employer..."
He added, This is a positive change because before, only the employees were punished, which was not fair.
"So, both employer and employee can be punished for the fine right now. Which is good, because before, only the employees got punished, and that was not fair."
2.png)
.png)
.jpg)
Follow Us On
33 Responses to “$5K fine for employers hiring persons illegally in VI- Mervin D. Hastings”
by Tafari Zharr
You give us nothing
Manipulations for Freedoms
You’ve Fronted For The Heirs
The Monarch’s Frontier
Is Still A Bird’s Sanctuary
That Abandoned Their Natives
Staving The Sun’s Ancestry
Left To fend Or Quit
They made something of it
You made something of it
We made something of it
Now you want back in
Come Along Again
Viruses And Virgins
Vigils and Vixens
The Taste Of Salty Winds
Against Parched Lips
Kept Souls Licking
The Skill Of Net-Fishing
Grandpa’s Good Catching
Kept Our people smacking
Kept Granny Grinning
Mammie Apples Not Applesauce
Sugar and Johnny Cakes - The Call
A Little Extra Something Tossed
Legends Like Sammie-Cutchie
“Chiropractic-ally” Boss
Purple Mansion and Peebles
No Anticipation Was Ever Tossed
On Those Days When Albums
Never Played
Scratched and Funghi Bands Amazed
VI Has Displayed Its Potentially Great
We Good - We Always Been Good
Good try And Good Luck
Reset classism and Resist The Corrupt
The Train’s Left The Neighborhood
Satisfied To Be Blessed And Blind
The Baroness Got Punchlines
We came in from behind
On the back end
Sand And Sandflies
High Fives , Cries and Lullabies
Take A Bow Hold Your Breath
A Field For Field Hands
A Stadium For Formation
Driven For The Arisen
The Latent Spirit- Come Lately
Front seats on the Front line
With yours On the Front end
“Perfidy In Front Ah We” Captain
Together We Sink or We Swim
Gimme The Cold Pot To Rougen
The Toughen “Old Wife Skin”
Fat-hogs Bay Reigns Adaptation
Why What Happened And When
Ocean Stories Came And Went
Families Wept Without Collapsing
Stop Gaslighting By Oppression
Message To The Seated And Opposition
Buyer Beware: Secure Policies
Or Become Policed Appeased Devotees
Stash Your Cane Rum and guava berries
Sobering If You Muster
Coconut Water And Gin
Complaining Ain’t Winning
Buckets Hitting Floor of Cisterns
Scratching Heads And Asses
Dispute Rainy seasons
Never again
The Resolution Was Dubbed
The Bird Sanctuary Decision
So Who Never Knew
That VI Flew without A runway
American Cary’s Blueprinted Our Blue
God Gave Us us water
Wee walked on it
You Withhold crown lands
We Built Homes On Hills
With Impossible Sounds
Greedy Bastards Dredged Up A Town
To Us The BVI Belongs
For our dignity Noel Was Crowned
Goddesses: Imogene and Eileen
Our First Ladies In Between
We’ve Been Between A Rock
Hard-place and Hardships Shaped By Little Or Barefoot Hardwares
We’ve Rocked The US Dollar
Doing The Do - In Deeds And Dept
To The Dance Of The British Pounding
So heres a song to VI Strong
Why do you want to Ruin
And Run your bitch down
Last time I checked
The indigenous Men Lost Ground
Here’s To Holding Forts Down
As Our Territory Drowns
It’s A British Virgin Islander Mek It
We still trying to Fake-It
Town Crier First ransacked To Remake it
Ignoring We in this bitch
Goats running
Youth gunning
Politicians yapping
We are the Executors Of Our Demise
Or Protectors of Our Resilience
From East End to West End And Road Town
Your fights not with the neighbors
Caribs, Arawak and Native Americans
The tribes have held you down
Sons of the soul and women of the seas
Don’t mek you get back on our knees
Some hold the code Others Disbelieve
Others wave Their Indulgences
Flip The Bird If You Not Are Being Heard
The Umpire Holds the Flag Politicians Brag
VI On It’s Knees -Balking - Afraid To Sneeze
Faint Voices Anxious For When Against
Birds And Marionettes
… Won’t Matter
This Poem Is For The Brave
Save Your Raves
For those wooden figures
Who make You Wanna Holler
Ballers Up
Bottles Up
Stemware Up
Good Times Up?
Copyright © 2023. By Tafari Zharr. All rights reserved
2. Are there any repercussions for employers who permit their employees to live on their property and intimidate them with threats of expulsion from the territory if they voice concerns about their inadequate living conditions?
3. To whom do public services direct complaints if individuals are victimized by management and are instructed to rotate positions if they are dissatisfied with their poor treatment?
The place just Lawless
immigration: customs: labour: police
Some of us over 60 years live to see the day when the night club & the church side by side
I guess it is call progress
Good to see this. I made that recommendation 31 years go but it fell on deaf ears. Let's hope its being enforced evenly across the board and not just a table talk rant. Protect the Virgin Islands
Money talks on this little polka dots islands