blogs.mirror.co.uk
A hard-hitting report into human trafficking in Scotland blames bogus self-employment for the exploitation of migrant workers.
Dodgy gangmasters are pushing workers into self-employed roles so that factory, farm and restaurant bosses can pay them below the minimum wage with "no risk of legal consequences".
We've been exposing the growing use of unfair self-employment by bosses to dodge having to pay employers' national insurance contributions, holiday pay, sick pay and redundancy. (We could soon add health and safety legislation to that list.)
The inquiry by Baroness Helena Kennedy QC for the Equality and Human Rights Commission, which focussed mainly on sexual exploitation, also found that gangmasters acted as human traffickers, exploiting vulnerable migrant workers.
She said that fruit planters, pickers and packers were lured to Scotland on the promise of good pay but: "The reality may be very different.
"Their wages may be below the minimum wage and they can lose significant parts of what they earn in commission to the gangmaster, as well as repaying exorbitant charges for being conscripted and brought in.
"They may also be charged for living accommodation in insanitary, dangerous portakabins in the countryside, crammed to the seams with other workers."
The Gangmasters Licencing Authority, set up after the deaths of Chinese cockle-pickers in Morecambe, was established to regulate employment standards for migrant labourers, but Ms Kennedy found: "To the frustration of GLA personnel, mostly former police officers with considerable experience, the gangmasters can induce the workers to claim self-employed status so that British landowners, farmers, factory and restaurant owners may, if they so wish, have no risk of legal consequences when they use such cheap labour.
She added: "Another problem is that the remit of the GLA is currently confined to the oversight of labour in the food and agricultural sectors, while exploited foreign labour may now be found in the service and construction industries as well as in care homes.
"In our evidence-gathering it became clear to us that there seemed to be no good reason for the vital work of the GLA not being expanded to include these other sectors and to cover other forms of contract employment and outsourced work, and that employers who used such labour should hold some responsibility for wages and conditions."
You can read the full PDF of her report here.
Dodgy gangmasters are pushing workers into self-employed roles so that factory, farm and restaurant bosses can pay them below the minimum wage with "no risk of legal consequences".
We've been exposing the growing use of unfair self-employment by bosses to dodge having to pay employers' national insurance contributions, holiday pay, sick pay and redundancy. (We could soon add health and safety legislation to that list.)
The inquiry by Baroness Helena Kennedy QC for the Equality and Human Rights Commission, which focussed mainly on sexual exploitation, also found that gangmasters acted as human traffickers, exploiting vulnerable migrant workers.
She said that fruit planters, pickers and packers were lured to Scotland on the promise of good pay but: "The reality may be very different.
"Their wages may be below the minimum wage and they can lose significant parts of what they earn in commission to the gangmaster, as well as repaying exorbitant charges for being conscripted and brought in.
"They may also be charged for living accommodation in insanitary, dangerous portakabins in the countryside, crammed to the seams with other workers."
The Gangmasters Licencing Authority, set up after the deaths of Chinese cockle-pickers in Morecambe, was established to regulate employment standards for migrant labourers, but Ms Kennedy found: "To the frustration of GLA personnel, mostly former police officers with considerable experience, the gangmasters can induce the workers to claim self-employed status so that British landowners, farmers, factory and restaurant owners may, if they so wish, have no risk of legal consequences when they use such cheap labour.
She added: "Another problem is that the remit of the GLA is currently confined to the oversight of labour in the food and agricultural sectors, while exploited foreign labour may now be found in the service and construction industries as well as in care homes.
"In our evidence-gathering it became clear to us that there seemed to be no good reason for the vital work of the GLA not being expanded to include these other sectors and to cover other forms of contract employment and outsourced work, and that employers who used such labour should hold some responsibility for wages and conditions."
You can read the full PDF of her report here.
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