Popular Chinese restaurant in The Hague busted for falsifying work permits

The Labor Inspectorate has shut down the popular Fat Kee restaurant in The Hague for a month for falsifying its employees’ work permits. The Inspectorate didn’t name the restaurant, but “Fat Kee” was clearly visible in the photo of the closure notice it posted.

The Chinese restaurant has faced previous reprimands on the same issue and received fines totaling 16,000 euros, the Inspectorate said.

In recent years, inspectors repeatedly found employees at the restaurant performing other work than their work permits allowed. Inspectorates also had to force the employer to provide identity details for its workers because the restaurant refused to do so voluntarily. “As a result, the inspectors were unable to check whether the person was allowed to work in the Netherlands.”

During a recent inspection, the Labor Inspectorate again found an employee who did not have the proper work permit to work at the restaurant. The company’s administration was also again not in order.

“The Labor Inspectorate sees that the company is not making enough effort to better comply with the rules,” it said. “To prevent further recidivism, the Labour Inspectorate stops the restaurant's activities.”

The restaurant will be closed for one month. Officially, Fat Kee is being reprimanded for multiple violations of the Foreign Nationals Employment Act.

Fat Kee is a popular mainstay in the city’s Chinatown neighborhood and has been around for over 20 years. The no-frills city center restaurant is often crowded and still lands on various rankings of favorite eateries in The Hague.