Overseas care staff are having to endure racism, share beds with other workers, and pay huge fees to work because of exploitation by rogue employers, according to a report released by Unison today.

The union stated that some migrant care workers have paid more than £20,000 to intermediaries in return for a job before they even arrive. They can then be housed in overcrowded, substandard accommodation and subjected to racist abuse in the workplace.

Data for the report was gathered from an online survey conducted from 20 November to 6 January. A total of 3,306 responded and 1,485 migrant care staff completed the whole survey, but some individual questions were answered by a smaller number of people. Several of the questions were multiple choice. 

The report is based on responses from overseas workers from Zimbabwe, India, the Philippines and other countries.

Report findings – Racism

46% claimed to have experienced racism at work including verbal insults and physical abuse. The majority of the perpetrators were service users (63%), followed by other care staff (43%), a supervisor/manager (36%), family members or friends of the service users (33%), or a company owner/employer (17%). 

Fees

15% had paid money to an employer and 9% to a recruiter or agency before coming to the UK.

Unison said it is calling for the government to take over sponsorship of migrant care staff from employers, maintaining that the current system, where care companies sponsor migrant care staff who can then apply for a visa, allows unscrupulous bosses to abuse their power. It added that staff who whistleblow are particularly vulnerable because bad employers often threaten them with deportation if they challenge poor practices or mistreatment in the workplace.

Unison added that when care companies go bust the staff lose their jobs, but those from overseas have the added risk of being deported if they can’t secure a new sponsor within 60 days.

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 a UK care job. However, the worker says 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/paperwork, training and accommodation. 

Pay

Around 18% of survey respondents said employers had deducted money from their salary since they’d 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%) had paid to be released from their contract with a social care employer, despite this being illegal. 

Problems with pay affected 31% of 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 good reason.

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.

75% of those affected said they didn’t have enough money, and 57% were unable to pay their bills. Others had to borrow money to get to work, couldn’t 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.

Living conditions

31% said their employer had provided them with accommodation, but 9% said the housing was either poor or in a very poor state.

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.

36% said they or a migrant worker colleague had been threatened with dismissal or redundancy for raising issues about their treatment at work.

Unison says these finding highlight how unscrupulous employers use visa sponsorship to threaten care workers who challenge mistreatment and exploitation.

Unison general secretary Christina McAnea 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.”  

Read the full report here