Zarah ChoudharyMigrant care workers are having to share beds with other workers, sleep rough, and pay huge fees to work because of exploitation by rogue employers, according to a report released by UNISON today.
Some migrant care workers have paid more than £20,000 to intermediaries in return for a job before they even arrive, according to Caring at a Cost.
They can then be housed in overcrowded, substandard accommodation and subjected to appalling racist abuse in the workplace, according to the research.
The report is based on findings from a survey by UNISON of more than 3,000 people who have come to the UK on health and care worker visas.
It is the first major piece of work on migrant care staff conducted by the union.
More than one in seven (15%) paid money to an employer and one in eleven (9%) to a recruiter or agency before coming here.
The union called for the Government to take over sponsorship of migrant care staff from employers.
UNISON said the current system, where care companies sponsor migrant care staff who can then apply for a visa, allows unscrupulous bosses to abuse their power.
Staff who whistleblow were particularly vulnerable to threats of deportation if they challenge poor practices or mistreatment in the workplace, warned the union.
UNISON also said when care companies go bust and staff lose their jobs, those from overseas have the added risk of being deported if they cannot secure a new sponsor within 60 days.
Caring at a Cost was based on responses from workers who came to the UK from Zimbabwe, India, the Philippines and other countries around the world.
Dozens of care staff said they paid fees of above £10,000 in return for the promise of shifts in residential care, in people’s homes and other areas of adult social care.
In one case, a care worker paid £13,500 for a certificate of sponsorship to an agency that promised to secure them a care job in the UK; however, the worker said they have not had any work in a year.
Staff who paid fees to their employer before arriving in the UK gave recruitment (70%) as the top reason followed by visas, flights to the UK, administration and paperwork, training and accommodation.
Around 18% of respondents said employers had deducted money from their salary since they had arrived in the UK.
Fees for administration, uniforms, cars, loans, training, hotel rooms, and airport pick-ups were among the reasons given.
A smaller proportion (4%) paid to be released from their contract with a social care employer, despite this being illegal, said UNISON.
Problems with pay affected three in 10 (31%) migrant care staff; this included not getting paid for travel time between visits or sick pay when ill and unable to attend work.
Others were paid late, or employers deducted wages without any good reason.
More than a quarter (27%) were paid below the legal minimum wage of £11.44 an hour, and 13% of respondents received less pay than non-overseas care staff.
Caring at a Cost outlined in detail the impact of care firms not paying staff properly, said UNISON.
Three-quarters (75%) of those affected said they did not have enough money, and more than half (57%) were unable to pay their bills.
Others had to borrow money to get to work, could not pay their rent or had to miss meals.
One care worker had to sleep rough because their employer did not pay them for shadowing other colleagues.
Three in 10 (31%) said their employer had provided them with accommodation, but nearly one in 10 (9%) said the housing was either poor or in a very poor state.
Nearly a quarter (24%) of those living in care company accommodation shared a bedroom with other workers.
One said 15 people were staying in a one-bedroom flat, and another was among nine sharing a three-bedroom property.
Racism experienced by care staff at work affected 46% of survey respondents, including verbal insults and physical abuse.
The majority of the perpetrators were people the staff were looking after, followed by other care workers, senior managers, employers, family members or friends.
More than a third (36%) said they or a migrant worker colleague had been threatened with dismissal or redundancy for raising issues about their treatment at work.
Social care has become reliant on overseas workers to fill vacancies, a situation driven by years of underfunding and a low pay culture in the sector, said UNISON.
The union said the best way to resolve the ongoing staffing crisis is to boost pay for all care workers through the government’s fair pay agreement, which is currently being developed in discussions between unions, employers and ministers.
This agreement is the first step towards creating the government’s promised national care service for England that would improve provision, raise standards and help relieve pressure on the NHS, said UNISON.
Christina McAnea , general secretary at UNISON said: “These shocking findings highlight widespread exploitation of migrant care workers.
“They underline the urgent need for reform with a national care service and fair pay agreement in social care.
“Only when wages rise with the promised fair pay agreement will the care sector be in a better position to recruit and hold on to the growing number of workers needed to deliver quality care to an ageing population.
“Care staff who come here from overseas are shoring up a crumbling sector.
“These workers should be treated with respect, not taken advantage of and abused.
“No one deserves to be treated in this despicable way.
“Some workers are effectively being employed as indentured labour.
“This is not only immoral but also illegal.
“They’ve come to the UK in the expectation of getting work and training, but instead many are forced to exist on the breadline.
“The government must overhaul the sponsorship system as a matter of urgency.
“This would help prevent exploitation and drive up standards across the care sector.”
