Employees hired from abroad to care for the elderly and disabled in the UK are being charged thousands of pounds in illegal fees and forced to work in operating conditions to pay off their debts.
An Observer investigation has uncovered a network of agencies that provide care workers and home care agencies that charge fees for recruiting candidates.
By law, agents cannot charge a fee for finding or attempting to find a candidate job. The practice of charging recruitment fees, previously revealed in the UAE and Qatar, is considered a human rights abuse that makes workers vulnerable to exploitation.
But fees are often disguised as a “processing”, “service” or “administrator” fee, with many workers unaware that they are illegal. Often the breakdown of fees or the full amount is not fully disclosed until the worker reaches the United Kingdom, at which time he has already paid for flights and relocation.
Workers from India, the Philippines, Ghana and Zimbabwe are among those paid for their employment, ranging from £ 3,000 to £ 18,000.
Some have fallen into debt bondage – a form of modern slavery – as a result of taxes. Suspected victims describe how agents withheld money from their salaries and withheld their passports or residence permits until they paid the amount due.
Others allege that they have been subjected to harassment and threats or have been paid less than the minimum wage. They cannot speak because the care sponsorship system means that their visa is linked to their employer.
The two were arrested by the Gangmasters and the Labor Abuse Authority on suspicion of exploiting vulnerable students working in care homes in North Wales. Photo: GLAA
The findings come as Britain struggles with a deteriorating social care staff crisis, with approximately 105,000 vacancies nationwide and thousands of patients facing long delays in care.
Many caring workers used a government visa scheme introduced in February, which added caring workers to the list of job shortages to attract international applicants.
But evidence gathered by the Observer – including interviews with alleged victims, charities and labor experts; conversations with agents; and analysis of pay slips, contracts and online chat groups – reveals that the new visa route has been widely abused by agencies and traffickers, leaving workers open to exploitation.
In an exchange with an undercover reporter last week, an agency supplying Indian workers to nursing homes said the fee for jobseekers of £ 10 an hour would be Rs 1.7 crore, around £ 17,600.
Another cites £ 4,500 for an ‘accommodation package’, including a sponsorship certificate, costs normally borne by the employer and ‘visa application support’ – something that only lawyers and registered immigration advisers can legally charge.
Accommodation of Indian medical workers. Photo: GLAA
Todd Maforimbo, who is studying the supply of labor in the UK health sector and is now campaigning against labor abuse, said he has been contacted by more than 30 paid care workers. “People come looking for a better life, but they find themselves in worse situations,” he said.
Modern slavery in the care sector is a growing problem, with several attacks by the government’s agency on labor abuse recently, and data from charities and the Care Quality Commission suggest an increase in cases.
In one case in North Wales, nine Indian workers were found sleeping on mattresses in cramped and unsanitary conditions. Colleagues at the nursing homes where they worked reported that they appeared “tired and smelly” and saw them eating leftovers from the residents.
Workers who came to the UK as students are believed to have worked up to 80 hours a week for the minimum wage, with their pay being controlled by their alleged exploiters.
An internal report by the Gangmasters and Labor Abuse Authority, seen by the Observer, said more monitoring was needed from care homes as well as universities to “prevent debt bondage and highlight potential traffickers”.
The health ministry said it took reports of illegal employment practices in the sector “very seriously” and that agencies or employers found to be working illegally could face prosecution.
He added that providers must adhere to the ethical standards set out in his Code of Practice for International Recruitment, which prohibits recruitment fees and said all costs incurred by agencies should be charged by employers.
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