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A man accused of working at his wife’s restaurant without a work permit was put on trial alongside his wife, who is being prosecuted for allegedly employing him, on Wednesday, 5 July.
Rudolph and Donnette Dawkins have been charged with working without a work permit and employing a person without a work permit, respectively.
They both deny the charges.
Donnette Dawkins, who is originally from Jamaica, is a 40% shareholder in the restaurant, while her Caymanian business partner holds the other 60%.
Dawkins’s husband did not have a valid work permit and was listed as her dependent at the time of the offence.
The charges relate to offences that allegedly occurred in March 2020.
“I was tasked with investigating allegations of potential work permit breaches at the restaurant after we received a tip that there was a person working there who didn’t have a work permit,” the Customs and Border Control enforcement officer told the court.
According to the officer, investigations revealed that, on average, the husband spent seven hours per day at the restaurant during the normal work week and would assist by purchasing groceries and delivering food. Additionally, the CBC also discovered that during that time his health insurance was covered by the restaurant.
In a prepared statement to the police, which was read out in court, the husband and wife refuted the comments, stating instead that all the services provided were favours to the wife who was unable to do them herself.
“There were times when I needed to purchase groceries for the restaurant and couldn’t do it, so he ran that errand as a favour to me,” the woman claimed in the statement.
She acknowledged that her husband did spend a significant portion of the day at the restaurant, but said he dropped her to work in the mornings and, rather than going back home to be by himself, he stayed to keep her company.
“As for insurance, it was cheaper to have him insured as one of my dependents and get coverage through the company,” she wrote.
The couple has been released on bail pending the court’s verdict.
In Cayman, a non-resident must obtain a work permit before commencing any form of gainful employment, unless granted an exemption. If convicted for working without a work permit or employing someone without a work permit, a person could be fined and/or jailed.
In 2022, CBC issued more than $273,000 in fines for similar infractions.
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