Better work advice is needed to stop exploitation of new migrants

The TUC has called for greater co-ordination between regional health, employment, housing and education services, to make it harder for rogue employers to exploit vulnerable migrant workers.

A seminar organised by the TUC and the East of England Development Agency (EEDA) last month examined how a more coherent approach to service provision could help end the problems migrant workers frequently face arriving in the UK.

Previous TUC research has shown how some employers use language difficulties and ignorance of employment law to exploit migrants, paying them less than the minimum wage, breaking working time rules and making excessive deductions to cover housing.

And recent EEDA research found that migrant workers faced major barriers to accessing information and having their qualifications recognised.

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: “The UK economy would grind to a halt overnight without the massive contribution now being made by thousands of migrant workers. But people arriving on our shores often have few clues as to where they should go for advice on a range of work-related matters which we just take for granted.”

He emphasised that unions have done much recently to recruit foreign nationals into membership as a means of tackling employer exploitation. But he added: “If there was better co-ordination of advice on services available to migrant workers, it would make life harder for the rogue employers and agencies who seek to prey on the vulnerability of migrant workers.”