Twenty-seven illegal workers and 15 employers and bosses have been arrested in joint Labour Department and Police operations in the past three weeks.

Seven eateries in Quarry Bay and North Point were raided on June 15, seeing the arrest of 15 workers and seven employers. More than half were working in the kitchen while the others were serving customers.

The department said there is an upward trend of illegal workers taking up more backyard jobs, such as food preparation and dish washing or food delivery. They are deployed only to serve customers in peak hours to avoid being arrested.