UK Seasonal Migrant Workers Exposed to Exploitation: Report

A farmer holds two newborn lambs to a ewe's teat during lambing at Barracks Farm in Fetcham, England on March 31, 2011. Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images

Migrants working in UK care and agricultural sectors on seasonal visas are increasingly vulnerable to exploitation and debt bondage, a charity has found.

Research into the conditions offered to migrant workers coming to Britain on the Seasonal Worker Visa (SWV) has found a number of factors that increase the risk of exploitation and modern slavery.

It is common for migrant workers in both agricultural and care sectors to pay high fees for recruitment and transfer to the UK, where they end up with low wages, irregular work and poor conditions, a report by Focus on Labour Exploitation (FLEX) charity has found.

Interviews with migrant agricultural and care workers highlighted the issue of illegal recruitment fees, including travel, training and accommodation costs, and high visa application fees.

While in employment, migrant workers would often find that their employer or scheme operator are out of available work before the planned return date.

“If I worked for six months, I think it’d be enough [money]. But I only got the opportunity to do the job for two months because winter came and there’s no more jobs on the farm,” a migrant worker named Bagus said, as quoted by the report.

Other issues include non-compliance with workplace rights such as breaks and paid leave, and limited labour mobility.

Visa Schemes

The reliance of UK farmers on seasonal workforce from abroad has played a role in the introduction of Seasonal Worker scheme after Brexit. The scheme introduced a quota of 45,000—55,000 visas in the horticulture sector per year.

The Skilled Health & Care Worker (H&CWV) visa was introduced in January 2021 and allowed workers to renew their visas.

However, to move to a new role, a H&CWV worker must find a licensed sponsoring employer and update their visa within 60 days, which means further fees.

These requirements “leave workers susceptible to their immigration status becoming irregular, or fuel exploitation by pressuring workers to remain in a role despite poor conditions,” researchers said.

The Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, one of the research contributors, called the visa rules introduced by the government “cruel and chaotic” and “leading to ’shocking' exploitation and hardship for care workers.”

The council called on the government to scrap temporary employer-specific visas and ensure their flexibility.

“Without govt change to work visas, bosses will continue to exploit care workers,” said the council.

Inspections

While the government policy is to reduce the reliance on overseas workers, UK farming industry representatives expect the dependency to grow for the foreseeable future.

The FLEX report said a clear division of responsibilities between the Home Office and other government bodies is necessary to ensure an appropriate labour inspection system.

The 68-page document found that health and safety inspections of migrant workplaces occurred rarely and had a “reactive,” rather than active nature.

Migrant worker would often be reluctant to come forward with their concerns out of fear of being deported and not being able to return to the UK in the future, the report said.

Unreasonable behaviour by employers would include cases, where crop picking targets would be allocated to crops that don’t allow for these targets to be met.

The report called on the Home Office to ensure that employers establish dispute resolution mechanisms for migrant workers, as a condition of sponsorship.

A relevant inspection body should provide migrant workers with a written, legally binding contract in their first language before they arrive in the UK and again on arrival, the charity said.

Government ministers have acknowledged the vulnerability and poor treatment of SWV holders. Last year, the Migration Advisory Committee, launched an inquiry into SWV to review the scheme’s “potential for exploitation and poor labour market practice” and whether it is needed in the long run.

The committee plans to publish its findings this year.