Labour pledges crackdown on migrant exploitation by employers

Labour has said that it will outlaw the cramming of migrant workers into mobile homes to reduce the price of accommodation and undercut domestic workers, report the HR services specialists of Employee Management Ltd (http://www.employeemanagement.co.uk).

The plans are part of a series of measures announced by Ed Miliband and shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper to prevent the exploitation of migrants by employers, as the party also promised to be much tougher in enforcing the national minimum wage – to the point of prosecuting and doubling fines. Also of interest to many HR support clients will be the party’s pledge to take further action against gangmasters employing illegal migrants in industries including hospitality, social care and construction.

The measures have been outlined in a speech by Cooper and a party political broadcast by Miliband, with the aim being “to create a fair framework that benefits domestic workers, prevents exploitation of foreign labour and reduces the demand for it”. The immigration system is also set to be further reformed, as the party also examines the factors that lead to so many low-skilled migrants coming to Britain. There will be announcements on policies designed to ensure the better training of domestic workers so that they have the skills to replace migrants in shortage occupations.

A Labour source quoted in a Guardian report emphasised the importance of “a level playing field so domestic workers are not disadvantaged”, also signalling that employers would not be permitted to “use migration in the wrong way.” Cooper said that the prospect of work was the biggest single factor likely to attract low-skilled migrants from Romania and Bulgaria to Britain from next January, after the lifting of transitional controls presently preventing them from taking up work here.

She described the party’s proposals to address the reasons behind such low-skilled migrants undercutting domestic workers as “long-thought-out”, in comparison to the “panic and kite-flying” of the present coalition Government. The party says that it would alter the national minimum wage regulations to make it illegal for employers to provide migrants with accommodation that is unsuitable and unreasonable. This would prevent employers that provide accommodation and charge for it as an offset of the minimum wage from cramming migrants into small units to game the system.

To better enforce minimum wage legislation, the party proposes to use the police rather than HMRC in sectors like social care, where as many as 13% of staff receive less than the minimum wage. The last two years have seen not a single prosecution in this area. These measures come after the party’s earlier pledge to ban recruitment agencies that solely bring foreign workers into Britain rather than find local workers to fill vacancies.

Employee Management Ltd (http://www.employeemanagement.co.uk) will provide continual updates on this area, and provides up-to-date employment law advice in the light of any new or impending legislation. Get in touch with us now to ensure the present compliance of your firm’s employment contracts.

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