Focus on Labour Exploitation considers how Seasonal Worker Scheme can be made fairer for migrant workers
Focus on Labour Exploitation (FLEX) has released a new report on the risks of worker exploitation for migrants coming to the UK on short-term Seasonal Worker visas.
You can download the 59-page report here.
Research for the report aimed to investigate and assess recruitment-related risks stemming from the Government's design of the Seasonal Worker Scheme (SWS), as well as highlighting cases of good practice and considering how the scheme can be made safer.
As the report explains, the SWS has seen rapid expansions since it first began in 2019. Maximum visa allocations rose from 2,500 workers in 2019 to 10,000 in 2020, 30,000 in 2021, 40,000 in 2022 (38,000 for horticulture, 2,000 for poultry production), and 47,000 workers in 2023 (45,000 for horticulture, 2,000 for poultry production).
FLEX surveyed 399 migrant workers and interviewed 83 for the report, in addition to interviewing 15 stakeholder organisations (including scheme operators, retailers, support organisations, and a factory). Migrant workers surveyed and interviewed came from 16 different countries: Kazakhstan (31.9%), Uzbekistan (18.5%), Kyrgyzstan (18.0%), Indonesia (9.4%), Tajikistan (4.8%), Moldova (4.8%), Russia (2.3%), Romania (2.3%), Ukraine (1.8%), Belarus (1.6%), Bulgaria (1.3%), Nepal (1.0%), Germany (0.3%), Iran (0.3%), Macedonia (0.3%) and Poland (0.3%).
The report was covered by the Financial Times and The Independent, with both noting that FLEX found most migrants on Seasonal Worker visas take out big loans when coming to the UK and are being saddled with large debts.
FLEX's research found that 72% of seasonal workers reported taking out a loan to cover the costs of coming to the UK. Loan amounts were reported to be up to £5,500, with an average of £1,231 and a median of £875. The median amount for workers from Indonesia was over £3,500.
This debt — together with the insecurity of work on the SWS and the short-term nature of the visa — creates a risk of debt bondage for workers.
The report notes: "The research findings show that many of the workers participating in this study had to shoulder a high financial burden to come to the UK, with some workers having to pay thousands of pounds in total costs. To cover these costs, the majority of workers had to take out loans. This can increase the vulnerability of workers to debt bondage and restrict their ability to leave exploitative conditions. While further work is needed to analyse how it can become operationalised, both retailers and scheme operators interviewed for this research were open to the idea of shifting the cost of coming to the UK away from workers."
It continued: "Many workers also reported mismatches in information concerning how much they would be earning, the total costs they had to pay, and their hours of work. Further, many workers also reported receiving contracts in a language they did not understand. These combined factors make it difficult for workers to make an informed decision about coming to the UK, putting them at risk of deception about the nature of work. This may have limited workers ability to accurately calculate if they would earn enough money to cover costs. While practices vary across operators, to reduce these risks, scheme operators interviewed highlighted several ways in which they try set expectations on the nature of work in the UK with workers, including through the use of in-depth information sessions provided to workers before the come to the UK."
One woman from Kazakhstan told FLEX: "I can tell you that a lot of people in Kazakhstan have sold their belongings or their assets just to have enough money to come here. Hoping that it would be better here and can earn more money. Can you imagine? Sold everything they owned! There are some people who leave their jobs to come here, because they are told that it would be better here. They see it on Tik Tok, Telegram or Instagram videos and everything looks perfect and beautiful. But once they arrive here, it's completely different. It is just an image, a deception."
Oliver Fisher, research manager at FLEX, was quoted by The Independent as saying that the report's findings indicate that a large number of people on the SWS are being subjected to preventable risks, including risks of deception.
The report makes six recommendations to address the issues identified and ensure the SWS is safer and fairer for workers:
- Data about the SWS should be available on a timely basis, and the monitoring and evaluation of the scheme should be more proactive, regular, and transparent.
- Gaps in data must be addressed: Recruitment practices, illegal charging and incidence and level of debt should be actively monitored closely, as well as the availability of work and evidence to support assertions of labour shortages, particularly in light of recent expansions of this route.
- The Government should consider options for regulating the list of countries that operators can recruit from, make this public and identify steps to mitigate evidenced risks arising from these transitions.
- Information about labour rights in the UK, as well as key terms and conditions of employment, should be shared with SWS workers in their country of origin and translated into workers' native languages, with relevant information provided and signed by employers and workers prior to travel.
- Workers who migrate to the UK on the Seasonal Worker visa should not be responsible for the costs of their journey. Consideration should be given as to how the sector funds the costs for workers to address labour shortages, with the financial risks of migration moved away from workers.
- The Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA) licensing scheme should be strengthened by actively monitoring overseas labour providers.
In response to the report, a Home Office spokesperson told The Independent: "The welfare of visa holders is of paramount importance, including in the seasonal workers scheme, and we are clamping down on poor working conditions and exploitation. The seasonal workers route has been running for four years and each year improvements have been made to stop exploitation and clamp down on poor working conditions while people are in the UK. We will always take decisive action where we believe abusive practices are taking place or the conditions of the route are not met."
For background information on Seasonal Worker visas, see the 41-page research briefing from the House of Commons Library available here.