UK care agencies are charged with abusing foreign employees who are ensnared in debt.
UK care agencies a have come under fire for allegedly abusing foreign workers, pushing clients to the brink of destitution as they battle to make ends meet while holding out hope for opportunities that never materialise.
Numerous employees of 11 distinct care providers have revealed to the Guardian that they paid agents thousands of pounds to get positions in residential care facilities or care homes in the UK; yet, the majority of them found little to no work when they arrived.
Many are currently working sporadic jobs for less than minimum wage and striving to pay off massive debts in their home nations.
Now, if the Conservatives and Labour win the election next month, they will be under pressure to address the problem. Labour declared last week that it will maintain the ban imposed by the Tories on foreign care workers bringing their dependents into the UK in an attempt to reduce net immigration.
However, experts argue that the restriction has not addressed the more fundamental problem of worker exploitation, with many of these workers still living in poverty in the UK and being hesitant to quit their employers for fear of losing their visa status.
Now, when parliament reconvenes, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has written to the leaders of the three main national parties, demanding a comprehensive government investigation into the abuse of migrant care workers.
The RCN’s interim general secretary, Prof. Nicola Ranger, stated: “Though little has been done to address it, the exploitation of migrant care workers is a national scandal.”
“The social care sector, which has a chronic shortage of staff, has increased its recruitment of foreign workers, and certain employers have been able to profit from the mistreatment of migrants due to a lack of regulation and enforcement.”
“Whoever wins the general election must prioritise an urgent government investigation into exploitation across the social care sector,” she continued. This job needs to begin right away since lives are being destroyed on a daily basis.
When he worked as the government’s borders inspector, David Neal voiced concerns about the care visa system, saying, “As soon as we looked at social care visas, we realised there was exploitation going on.”
“I was reminded of the Windrush scandal during my inspection, and there are parallels here,” he continued. “The state is luring workers to this country to assist us in the labour market, but they are then abandoned.”
Attorneys claim that UK care providers may have broken the law if they promised consistent full-time employment but upon arrival gave unfair or poorly compensated jobs. Many feel stuck because the sponsorship system ties a person’s visa status to a specific employer.
“I can see what look like indicators of trafficking and modern slavery,” stated Johanna White, a solicitor with the nonprofit Anti-Trafficking and Labour Exploitation Unit.
“There seems to have been deceptive recruitment in many cases, where people were promised the chance to live and work in the UK in exchange for large upfront fees, but instead they were given false information and were left vulnerable to financial exploitation or forced labour, or both.”
In recent years, the care sector has relied on hundreds of thousands of foreign workers to help with manpower shortages brought on by the Covid epidemic and Brexit. In 2023, the government issued 350,000 visas for health and care to employees and their dependents, which accounted for 75% of all visas issued for skilled workers.
However, it also seems that system abuse has increased along with the numbers.
They all essentially told the same tale: they paid immigration officers several thousand pounds in fees, as well as the care provider in certain circumstances, in order to obtain a visa that allowed them to work as carers in people’s homes or in assisted living facilities.
The majority claimed the agents assured them the funds would pay for their visa, airfare, and one month’s lodging in addition to ensuring full-time employment with pay exceeding £20,000 annually. Many claim they were persuaded the remuneration would rapidly cover any debt incurred to pay the initial expenses.
However, workers claim they were informed shortly before landing in the UK that they would be responsible for covering their own travel and lodging expenses. They were promised jobs, but when they got there, they were not given them. The majority of the time, there was either no work at all or far less work and money than promised.
According to other employees, their employers pushed them to look for temporary employment elsewhere, as permitted by their visa.
Employees at one organisation claimed they were pressured to take jobs as drivers or housekeepers instead. A number of them reported using food banks, while others claimed that in order to make ends meet, they were sharing beds and even rooms with other immigrants.
Workers who have expressed dissatisfaction with the conditions in multiple instances claim they were threatened with deportation from India and the removal of their sponsorship if they did not keep quiet. A few reported that immigration authorities stationed in India had even threatened their families if they dared to voice their concerns.
One of the labourers, Shahid Chera Pparambil, stated: “I have nowhere to live if I return to India. The only thing left to me is to take my own life.”
He went on to say that his family back home was now struggling because of the debt he had accrued in India: “People are coming and demanding money from us, from my wife and family.” There is no life here, thus I am unable to bring them. I’m completely locked in.
Neal’s assessment, released subsequent to his dismissal from the position, cautioned that the Home Office lacked enough control over the visas being granted.
He discovered that thousands of sponsorship certificates were given to a company without its knowledge, and hundreds of sponsorship certificates—documents required to obtain a skilled worker visa—were given to a company posing as a care facility. The number of inspectors was one every 1,600 employers licenced to sponsor foreign labour.
“We prevent overseas care workers from entering the United Kingdom without genuine roles or fair pay to safeguard against destitution,” a Home Office official stated.
“We don’t tolerate illegal labour market activity, and we take strong action against carers who exploit their clients. As we take aggressive measures to combat noncompliance and abuse, fewer visas are being granted.
The Guardian identified 11 employers, and six of them have had their licences to hire further foreign carers revoked or suspended. The other five, though, are still able to hire foreign labour.
The majority of carers who spoke with the Guardian were still based in the United Kingdom. While some have been able to secure jobs through new sponsors, many are forced to work irregular hours as drivers or cleaners, frequently for less money than the minimum wage, in order to make ends meet.
According to Neal, the system in place for businesses to grant sponsorship certificates is unsuitable for the care sector, where exploitation is a prevalent practice, and is often reserved for high-end professional positions.
“This is the wrong way to get more people into the social care sector—everyone in this area knew that,” he declared.
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