Nearly 200 UK healthcare companies with migrant workers broke employment rules: report

Nearly 200 British social services agencies allowed to employ foreign workers were found to have a track record of labor abuses, new research has found. This highlights the abuse of workers in a low-paid sector that is heavily dependent on immigration.

According to a report by the charity Work Rights Centre, 177 healthcare companies in England that had a sponsorship license to recruit migrant workers had previously breached employment rights.

According to a study by researchers at Violation Tracker UK into Employment Tribunal cases, the companies committed 250 breaches of employment standards between January 2020 and July 2024, including unfair dismissal, pay cuts, discrimination, overtime of staff and failure to pay the minimum wage.

In total, the companies lost 225 cases and were ordered to pay more than 6 million pounds ($7.7 million) in compensation to workers.

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Charities and academics have said Britain’s post-Brexit system of allowing companies to sponsor workers to obtain visas could create a power imbalance. Labor exploitation investigation agency the Gangmasters and Labor Abuse Authority has said cases of modern slavery, debt bondage and financial exploitation are on the rise.

Dora-Olivia Vicol, CEO of the Work Rights Center, said the power imbalance could leave “companies emboldened to exploit migrant workers knowing they can use the threat of visa restrictions to target those who might to speak out to silence.” As the UK population ages, demand for healthcare workers to help the elderly is growing. Nearly a third of all healthcare workers in England are migrants, many of whom come from countries including India, Nigeria, Zimbabwe and the Philippines after Britain introduced a special job visa in 2021 to fill thousands of vacancies following its departure from the European Union. Union.

The report states that the number of violations is likely the “tip of the iceberg” as only a small proportion of employment disputes end up before an employment tribunal.

The Ministry of Interior has revoked or suspended the sponsorship licenses of more than 1,000 companies this year.